Official government justifications and public ARV provision: a comparison of Brazil, Thailand and South Africa.

Mauchline, Kerry

Official government justifications and public ARV provision: a comparison of Brazil, Thailand and South Africa.

Working Paper

2008

Journal Title

Centre for Social Science Research

Link to Journal

http://www.cssr.uct.ac.za/

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Centre for Social Science Research(CSSR)

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

The 2001 Doha Declaration of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) confirmed the right of countries to override patents in the interest of public health (Ford, et al., 2007). Later resolutions from the WTO as well as from the United Nations (UN) reflected the emerging consensus that medicines required to treat pandemic illnesses are a basic human right (Galvao, 2005). International assistance with regard to the public provision of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) has been closely associated with this shift, resulting in a new hope for the widespread treatment of AIDS. ARV drugs themselves have also undergone substantial technical development. Simpler, combined dosage formats and a greater range of suitable medications provide more options for short-course interventions (to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child) and for long-term treatment of AIDS with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).