March 01, 2001

Dear

Alcon, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Byk, Eli Lilly, Glaxo Wellcome, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Janssen-Cilag, Knoll, Lundbeck, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Roche, Schering, Schering-Plough, S.A. Scientific Pharmaceuticals, SmithKline Beecham,Universal Pharmaceuticals,Wyeth, Xixia Pharmaceuticals, Zeneca.

On 18 February 1998, your company, along with 37 other pharmaceutical manufacturers and a trade organisation, brought a suit against the Government of the Republic of South Africa aiming to prevent implementation of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, No. 90 of 1997.

This legislation aims to address the growing crisis of lack of access to affordable medicine in South Africa by promoting the use of generic medicines and by permitting the parallel importation of medicines. On 5 March 2001, this case will be heard in front of the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa.

Although the South African government has been accused of a tardy response to AIDS, it has recently embarked on an ambitious country-wide programme of using antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. However, the government's ability to provide longer-term treatment to people with HIV - an urgent need in a country in which one in five adults has HIV - is severely hampered by the high cost of medicines in South Africa. Furthermore, it is crucial to improve access to key medicines for other illnesses prevalent in the country, such as malaria, TB and other infectious diseases.

In recent months, many pharmaceutical companies have clearly stated that they recognise the need to improve access to key medicines. Now is the time to back those words with action. Therefore, we ask you to withdraw officially from this suit. Doing so would be a clear gesture that your company is serious about contributing to systematic, long-term solutions to the access crisis,

We look forward to receiving your response,

Sincerely yours, Stichting Pharma Selecta

(Brief opgesteld door Médecins Sans Frontières, verspreid door HAI Europe)

Gegevens

Hoofdcategorie: Redactioneel

Categorie: 2001

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