South African Parliament Approves Drugs Bill

The second reading of South Africa's controversial Medicines andRelated Substances Control Amendment Bill (Marketletters passim) has been approved by the National Assembly by a 201-71 vote. Clauses allowing patent abrogation, parallel imports of cheaper drugs, mandatory substitution and a single exit price are all set to become law.

The bill is now scheduled to be debated in the National Council of Provinces this month, and thereafter all that is needed is President Nelson Mandela's signature.

Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin has said that affordable health care is more important than a patent right that leads to limiting trade practises, and that the government has merely taken a policy decision to stop drug firms from using their patents to prevent affordable care. South Africa and the USA differ on the interpretation of a World Trade Organization agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property that was intended to establish international uniformity with regards to property rights, he said, adding that South Africa wants to introduce affordable health care, while the USA seeks to protect long-standing policies of its pharmaceutical industry.