PlusNews reports that at least a hundred protesters arrived at South Africa's parliament on 11 July 2012 to demonstrate their disapproval of the ongoing court case by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis against the Indian government over its patent laws. As the case draws to a close, health organizations say a win for the pharmaceutical company will be a loss to the developing world, which sources the bulk of its generic medicines from India. Novartis approached the Indian government six years ago, seeking to register a cancer drug already commonly marketed under the name Gleevec. The patent was denied and a long-running court battle ensued, but at each step Indian courts have ruled against Novartis and the company has appealed. India has laws against “evergreening”, a term used to describe instances where drug companies maintain artificially high prices on medicines for longer by continually extending patent protection for minor modifications to existing drugs. India's Supreme Court is expected to hand down the judgment that will draw the legal saga to a close on 22 August. This could not only limit the country's ability to produce generics, but also set a precedent in other countries - like South Africa - looking to revamp patent laws.
Governance and participation in health
What did South African AIDS activists contribute, politically, to early international advocacy for free HIV medicines for the world's poor? Mandisa Mbali demonstrates that South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) gave moral legitimacy to the international movement, which enabled it to effectively push for new models of global health diplomacy and governance. The TAC rapidly acquired moral credibility, she argues, because of its leaders' anti-apartheid political backgrounds, its successful human rights-based litigation and its effective popularisation of AIDS-related science. The country's arresting democratic transition in 1994 enabled South African activists to form transnational alliances. Its new Constitution provided novel opportunities for legal activism, such as the TAC's advocacy against multinational pharmaceutical companies for blocking access to affordable generics and the South African government when it failed to provided antiretrovirals. Mbali's history of the TAC sheds light on its evolution into an influential force for global health justice.
In this statement, the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM)points out that, by the end of the 2009/10 financial year, the Eastern Cape Department of Health had accrued debt of approximately US$ 245 million. PSAM argues that this overspending was largely as a result of underfunded and unbudgeted mandates relating to human resources, as well as higher than expected costs for pharmaceuticals and laboratory services. It notes that the debt has already resulted in stock-outs of basic medicines, but cautions that the issue is not only one of inadequate funding. Over the last ten years the Eastern Cape Department of Health has consistently received poor audit opinions from the Auditor General. These opinions have revealed that chronic financial mismanagement continues to result in the misuse and misappropriation of public funds. This means that even those resources which are available have not been used appropriately. The PSAM calls on the National Department of Health and the National Treasury to make public details of the Eastern Cape Department of Health’s financial status, and to publicly guarantee that no patients in the province will be refused basic treatments because of a shortage of medicines and medical supplies.
On World Health Day, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang announced the launch of a government strategy to ensure that the public health sector has essential human capital to deliver quality care. The National Human Resource Plan for Health is one of the health department's strategies to deal with the critical shortage and migration of health workers from the country.
This article reports efforts of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to make South-South (SS) co-operation a vehicle for knowledge exchange. The article argues that SS co-operation must be aligned to national development strategies developed through broad-based processes with the participation of parliaments, CSOs, academic institutions, and independent media. It calls for mutual accountability between Southern external funders, countries and their citizens, and increased inclusion of affected actors in assessing aid and development effectiveness.
This article considers new opportunities for South-South co-operation, and proposes that the G20 is a good platform for African countries to leverage South-South (SS) exchange practices. African organizations, like the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), offer mutual learning opportunities to other South countries, like Brazil, and have supported both South-South and North-South knowledge exchanges. The development priorities identified by the AU and NEPAD have been guided by sectoral policy frameworks encouraging innovative exchanges in multistakeholder collaborations and partnerships. If Africa is to be globally competitive, greater investment in this kind of knowledge and learning will be required, the article argues. Knowledge-based approaches to resolving Africa’s development challenges should be strengthened, with research and innovation helping to expand the SS co-operation policy frontiers. Strategically designed institutional arrangements can facilitate the participation of multiple stakeholders, thus fostering the formation of social capital by enhancing SS networks for the exchange of knowledge. Existing regional frameworks are critical in guiding and framing the knowledge and learning architecture in Africa, but innovations must be grounded in the realities of the continent to achieve their desired results. The article concludes that the success of this new development paradigm depends on the establishment of new partnerships to foster more inclusive, equitable and sustainable forms of development co-operation.
Civil society space in Uganda is rapidly shrinking, says international civil society network, CIVICUS, and Uganda-based East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP). Independent civil society organisations are being openly threatened and placed under excessive scrutiny by senior government officials. The Ugandan Parliament is currently considering the Public Order Management Bill, which would place a number of restrictions on the freedom of assembly, and violations of the proposed law carry a high penalty of two years’ imprisonment. Both CIVICUS and EHAHRDP urge the Ugandan government to respect the right of civil society actors to freely express, associate and assemble, in line with the country’s obligations under the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Uganda is a party.
This Declaration of Commitment by Speakers of Parliament is based on the resolution to the Speakers from the fifth Session of the Second Pan African Parliament held on 3-14 October 2011, in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, urging speakers of Parliament in the continent to prioritise the implementation of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programmes with country reports on actions taken. The commitment promises high-level parliamentary support to hasten implementation of the Africa Parliamentary Policy and Budget Action Plan on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, agreed by Chairs of Finance and Budget committees of national parliaments in October 2010.
This paper from Oxfam focuses on how the right-to-be-heard concept can strengthen public participation in policy making and accountability. Recommendations for those supporting poor and marginalised people to lobby for changes in their situation include recognising that change is long-term, understanding that attitudinal change is important, putting local priorities first, working at a number of levels and building alliances, bringing people face to face, taking different perspectives into account, recognising that international agencies can play an advocacy role, understanding that NGOs are important as role models of accountability and integrity. A number of case studies are used to illustrate these points including the fostering of local accountability in Malawi.
Women with AIDS face neglect and prejudice all over the world. Many are denied healthcare during pregnancy or forced to have abortions. Some are sent away by their husband's family to their parents' home. How can their situation be improved? The International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS set up a research project to find out the needs of HIV-positive women in Zimbabwe. Women with the virus were chosen as team leaders and trained to carry out interviews. Following the project these women were better able to represent the rights of HIV positive women and play an active role in raising AIDS awareness in their communities.