iClinic - July 10, 2000
Marjolein Harvey
He goes on to say: "So grievous has governmental ineptitude been that South Africa has since 1998 had the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the world. It currently has one of the world's highest prevalences."
Cameron, in a speech entitled "The deafening silence of AIDS", describes the government as having set up "a cacophony of task groups, workshops, committees, councils, policies, drafts, proposals, statements, and pledges" that have produced "piteously little" in the way of results.
Cameron is also disappointed that President Thabo Mbeki did not address the issue of lack of access to affordable HIV/AIDS drug treatments for the poor.
"The responsibility for every single death occurring through lack of access to medicines should be borne by pharmaceuticals and rich countries," he said, adding that 25 million avoidable deaths have been predicted in Africa for the next five to ten years.
In the very distant future, pharmaceuticals may be held liable for reparations, says Cameron. For now, legal mechanisms such as parallel importing and compulsory licensing enable countries to produce generic medicines locally or to shop the world market for the cheapest possible alternative.
Drug companies' claims that this violates intellectual property rights and international patent laws have been refuted by most quarters, including government, but have done much to undermine the government's ability to procure affordable medicines.
For now, a moral emergency confronts pharmaceutucal companies: to make available the antiretroviral treatment which has made HIV/AIDS a manageable, chronic disease for individuals and countries that can afford it, rather than the death sentence it is now for the poor.
Leading the Global March for HIV/AIDS Treatment on Sunday, which was attended by hundreds of supporters from all walks of life, from all over the world, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said people are outraged "at the tyranny of the market" and the struggle against pharmaceutical companies is "to demand that people come before profit".
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