• Login
    View Item 
    •   ResearchSpace Home
    • College of Law and Management Studies
    • School of Law
    • Medical Law
    • Masters Degrees (Medical Law)
    • View Item
    •   ResearchSpace Home
    • College of Law and Management Studies
    • School of Law
    • Medical Law
    • Masters Degrees (Medical Law)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Access to affordable life-saving medicines : the South African response.

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Thesis (824.2Kb)
    Date
    2012
    Author
    Joseph, Coral Jade.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Patent protection grants the patent holder with a market monopoly, free from market competition allowing the patentee to charge any price; therefore medicines are sold at prices much higher than the marginal cost of production and distribution. The connection between international trade and intellectual property has aggravated human rights and public health concerns surrounding the inaccessibility of essential medicines. The World Trade Organisation‘s Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement is an international instrument which has greatly impacted intellectual property rights protection and access to medicine. It has globalized intellectual property law by obliging all Members to subscribe to the minimum international standards of protection for intellectual property. South Africa is an example of the issues faced whilst attempting to bring their domestic laws into compliance with the Agreement. The government had to attempt to strike a balance between creating an effective intellectual property infrastructure whilst realizing the therapeutic needs of those affected by HIV/AIDS. The South African Patents Act 57 of 1978 did not comply with the Agreement and was subsequently amended in order to bring its patent legislation in full compliance with the Agreement. Currently, South Africa grants patents for new uses or formulations of existing medicines consequently lengthening the period of patent monopoly by allowing pharmaceutical companies to obtain new patents for slight modifications to existing medicines. It is submitted that South Africa‘s patent legislation is more extensive than is necessary under international law, examples of this being disclosure standards and the process for compulsory licensing. In addition, it has not made use of provisions in its existing law to take measures to improve access to essential medicines, nor has it implemented legislative amendments consequent to the flexibilities established in the Doha Declaration. This dissertation seeks to review the steps South Africa has taken in its compliance with the TRIPS Agreement with respect to the relevant intellectual property legislation that has been enacted, including its implications for access to essential medicines. The intention behind this dissertation is to assess the efficacy of the intellectual property legislation in South Africa and its impact on access to medicines.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10413/9774
    Collections
    • Masters Degrees (Medical Law) [53]

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • The development and evaluation of a community-based programme offering psychosocial support to vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS, poverty and violence. 

      Killian, Beverley Janet. (2004)
      This research programme endeavours to develop, implement and evaluate an effective method of offering psychosocial support to vulnerable children. Vulnerability is defined by trained community members as including children ...
    • The state of spatial information for land reform in South Africa : a case study of the Amantungwa Land Reform project. 

      Kubheka, Sipho. (2006)
      Many authors and practitioners involved in rural or local development agree that co-operation and the integration of efforts by the delivery agents is crucial for sustainable development programmes. The delivery of Land ...
    • Loan products to manage liquidity stress when broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) enterprises invest in productive assets. 

      Finnemore, Gareth Robert Lionel. (2005)
      Investments in productive assets by broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) enterprises in South Africa (SA) during the 1990s have been constrained, in part, by a lack of access to capital. Even if capital can be ...

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2013  Duraspace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of ResearchSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisorsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisorsType

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2013  Duraspace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV