Non-aligned nations back SA on AIDS drugs

Health ministers of Non-Aligned Movement countries meeting inJohannesburg, South Africa, have adopted a resolution supporting South Africa's legal battle against multinational drug firms over the supply of HIV/AIDS drugs (Marketletters passim). The resolution will be tabled at the World Health Assembly later this year.

The ministers and heads of delegations believe the outcome of the case will reverberate through the developing world and have a vital impact on their own health interests, noted South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Delegates said that access to safe, affordable medicines is vital, and countries should not be hindered in their efforts to exercise the options available to access life-saving and essential drugs, she said, adding that such options would include parallel importation and compulsory licensing.

Intellectual property rights play an important part in the development of new drugs but international agreements require IPR to be exercised in a way that contributes to the transfer of knowledge, benefits both producers and users of technological know-how and promotes social and economic welfare, delegates noted, according to Dr Tshabalala-Msimang. The meeting also sought greater support and aid to developing countries to strengthen local capacity in vaccines, medicines and public health, and for proven traditional drugs to be incorporated as a way of providing affordable treatment, she added.