The high prevalence of HIV-AIDS infection in many African countries constitutes a major obstacle to their development. In countries such as South Africa up to 20% of the adult population are infected with HIV virus. In these situations HIV-AIDS is contributing to an erosion of hard-won development gains, it is worsening poverty and it is causing much physical and psychological suffering to individuals and communities.
We know that the quality of the lives of people living with HIV can be greatly enhanced if they can access essential medications that can be used to treat opportunistic infections. We know also that the availability of such treatments can also prolong the life of those infected with this virus, and can reduce the risk of transmission of associated diseases such as TB and infectious diarrhoea. We know also that the availability of anti-retroviral drugs can prolong the life of those infected with HIV – and in many cases their administration has transformed the lives of people infected with HIV virus and allowed their illness to be controlled and their quality of life greatly improved.
However, access to such medicines is not universal and from the perspective of developing countries, has been denied, not on the basis of need, but on the ability of countries' capacity to afford the prices being demanded by drug manufacturers. The recent constitutional court hearing which took place in South Africa between the South African Government and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, which represented 39 local and international drugs companies, highlighted in a very public way the rights people have to effective treatment on the one hand and the rights companies have to a protection of their patents on the other.
Against the background of the extent of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in Africa and the growing international call for equity of access to effective treatments, I believe it was a major error of judgment for the pharmaceutical companies to bring the matter to the courts in the first place. Some weeks back, I made the case for this action to be withdrawn.
I therefore welcome the early settlement of this case and believe that the outcome of this case signals a shift in power between the rights of developing countries over a specific interpretation of international patent regulations. It is my hope that this decision will contribute to the acceleration of efforts to ensure that poor people in Africa with HIV-AIDS have access to life-saving drugs at affordable prices.