South Africa's "affordable drugs" law returns, but antiretrovirals not

6 June 2001

The South African government has now resumed its plans to introducelegislation which would allow the Health Ministry to purchase drug treatments on the international market as cheaply as possible, for conditions including HIV/AIDS.

Passage of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act was halted temporarily by the court case brought against the government in Pretoria by the multinational pharmaceutical industry, aiming to get the legislation struck down on the grounds that it would violate brand-name manufacturers' intellectual property rights, a move which the industry then abandoned (Marketletter April 23).

The resumed draft legislation runs to 70 pages. It seeks to permit imports of patented drugs into South Africa, on issuance of a permit from the Health Ministry. The imported drugs would then have to be registered with the Medicines Control Council and the holder of their patents in South Africa would be unable to block the drugs' import or distribution. The legislation also gives the Health Ministry powers over drug prices in South Africa and would encourage generic prescribing and dispensing.

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