The organised Isbour movement in South Africa regards the law court victory over the Pharmaceutical nuncaurers Associon as the beginning and not the end of the campaign. At its Central Executive Committee meeting on April 26. COSATU said that the war was not A long battle still lay ahead before affordable medicines were available for people who need tem. If the Medicines and Related Substances Amendment Act was not imple victory would prove a hollow one.
COSATU is demanding that employers, especially the big corpora tions, provide free treatment for those of their workers and their fami lies who are living with HIV/AIDS. It b so demanding that insurance comschemes end all discrimination against people with HIVIAIDS.
Although COSATU is part of the tripartite allance (ANC, CP. COSATU) which forms the govemment of South Africa, it is not promising the government an easy ride on this issue COSATU promises to be its firmest supporter if it does the righe thing uch as introducing the Medicines Act but is firmest critic if it falls to meet its constitutional duties to protect fe and dignity. The trade unionss are ual delays in implementing countrywide treatment programme to preCOSATU is demanding a treatmènt plan by16 June, which will outline how treatment will be made accessi. ble to all South Africans with HIVIAIDS, opportunistic and sexually transmitted diseases, and which will coment the government to increased health-care spending Unked to these measures, the goremment must urgently introduce a compreensive social security system, to end the poverty and hunger which contributes to the spread of HIVB/AIDS and makes treatment far An important lesson from the Pretoria court case has been that international solidarity was an immensely powerful factor in forcing the pharmaceutical sants to with. draw.
South Africa's organised workers will be solidy alongside their Brazilian comrades in Brazil's battle with the World Trade Organisation, and the US pharmaceutical companies who are trying to stop the Brazilian govemment doing the same as the South African government is trying to do.
This victory in South Africa is proof that global capitalism is not invincible. est of the greed of the few rather than meeting the needs of the South Africa has more people liv. ing with HIV than any other county, an cstmarco 9.f milion pcople In 2000 2.4 million African people died from HIV-related causes. HIV deaths in South Africa are expected to rise from 120,000 last year to an And South Africa is not the hardest hit. Life The whole continent is devastated 70% of adults with HIV world-wide ana suse of caldren live in Alrica.
Our health cannot be left to private sector Depopulation might suit the gold and diamond asset-strippers and enough wealth on this planet to protect and support the population, of putting the priorities in the right acurosius They have been wistfully sending out messages of encouragement of national pharmaceutical companies But what we should be doing is "making the rich work for the globe". Just 10% of the multinational pharmaceutical companies' re-search money goes on illpopulation (on their own figures). They still restrict development of chcaper medicines locais tarouge use of World Trade Organisation regulations. The giants devote their nesses affecting the rich world, in which there is a profit, because the And they do not devote the same energy • to ilinesses such as malaris and even on these they are still slapping patents on new remedies being developed for resistant strains A "special fund" is a step in a better arecion. but it is not a soluOutlook
tion. The public fund is still a subsics to private mult® carry out rescarch and development work for poor consumers. (Can the "poor" *conLike any aid, it is tied to those who have control of it.
that BaCula multi-nationals will regulate themselves public structurally unsound.
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