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There's no sign that South Africa's intellectual property laws will change anytime soon, public health experts say. That means pharmaceutical companies will keep abusing the country's weak system - and keep the profits rolling in.
Currently, South Africa's compulsory licensing laws are so stringent that they make it very difficult to use compulsory licensing and require law reform to make them useful and accessible, writes Baone Twala and Umunyana Rugege.
The disappointing WTO outcome increases the urgency for domestic intellectual property law reform in the interests of public health and the realisation of people's constitutional right to access healthcare services, write Candice Sehoma and Baone Twala.
A shortage of pharmaceutical ingredients and production delays are among the reasons public health facilities in SA experienced periods of birth control medication stockouts this year. This is according to the national health department in response to a new survey detailing how patients from seven provinces experienced a shortage of contraceptives.
South Africa is seeing fewer medication stockouts than in previous years but contraception shortages continue to be a problem in the country, according to a new report from the Stop Stockouts Project.