Copyleft

The global AIDS crisis has reached epidemic proportions in the Republic of South Africa, where nearly 1 in 10 citizens are HIV positive. While patients in the West enjoy widely accessible treatments that allow them to live longer, fuller lives, treatment in Africa is practically non-existent. The drugs, manufactured by U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies with exclusive patents, are priced far out of the range that even Africa's most developed nations - including South Africa - can afford. At the center of this debate is the ongoing dispute between the US and South Africa regarding intellectual property rights, compulsory licensing, and parallel importing of HIV medication. Lawmakers, public health officials, activists, and the drug companies continue to fight about which comes first - public health or corporate profits.

The central question to this debate is "Which is more important: public health or protection of patents and intellectual property?" If one defines the AIDS epidemic in South Africa as a national emergency or a "circumstance of extreme urgency," many of the pharmaceutical companies' arguments are moot. Even if such criteria are not met, the legal standing of the pharmaceutical companies is questionable at best.

http://www.american.edu/ted/aidstrips.htm

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• copyright
• patents
• intellectual
• property
• AIDS
• medication
• Africa
• pharmaceutical
• companies
• copyleft

[djrsterenborg]

Since I am an academic I will get into details or defend any position, but their is very debatable material here:

no patents ->

no (temporarely) monopolies ->

less or even no research, because money is lacking

no development -> no drugs

on the other hand:

no patent ->

no reason to ask money, since there is a market competition ->

no income to pay for research -> and so on!

[xenophobia2006]

thank you for this thoughtful reply.

[TheArmchairGeek]

Drug companies ARE corrupt and would (and do) kill people for money if they can get away with it. But why don't people just stop sleeping around? Aids would essentially be gone in one generation.

[xenophobia2006]

I don't think it is people "sleeping around" that spreads aids, some people got aids the first time they had sex, other's through needles and blood transfusions etc. I think more education and easily accessible medication would help... as well as a long term investment into a cure.

[TheArmchairGeek]

Okay...maybe people should stop sleeping around and doing drugs. As for your objections, I would strongly disagree with you. Blood has been screened since 1983 and even the "first time" contractions occur by sleeping with someone who's done it before...though you are right to add "drug useage" to the mix. If people stopped having casual sex and doing intravenous drugs, HIV would be gone in 1 generation; 2 tops.

[xenophobia2006]

But I don't think it is just the individuals who use drugs or have sex who are responsible for this, I believe everyone as a society is responsible. Everyone participates in the continuation of societal problems unless they are actively working at solutions in a self-reflexive manner. I guess my question for you is what would it take for people to have more protected sex and less drug use? These are larger problems that relate to issues of class (access to education and resources, etc).

[VieuxMalcommode]

@djrsterenborg: step forward 5 years later and your assertion "no (temporary) monopolies" has become "no (permanent) monopolies"

The most cursive look at how much our society spends litigating invention, the very process that led us out of the stone age, should be enough to convince you.

Copyright is the legalized theft by the few of the creativity of the many and it will cause the downfall of our civilization just as surely as slavery doomed the roman empire.

[elchippe]

@djrsterenborg People life or Money ??? Uuummmmm you have to love the human race.

[tkmmark]

@djrsterenborg Monopoly does not have to be private. If anything, even the Principal researcher at Microsoft admitted some of his greater early achievements were done through good government programmes (in the same conversation he lamented the drastic cut in fundings in recent decades).

[vyovy]

text goes too damn fast

[djrsterenborg]

As well as the highest rate of child deaths (see the MDGs)!

Some people are born with AIDS because the drugs (patented very often) are to expensive. But do you know that Germans pay more for their drugs then the French, etc. for example. This means that there is a slight difference in prices on HIV/AIDS drugs to balance some difference.

[drewster1829]

"But why don't people just stop sleeping around?" For the same reason that Third World nations have the highest birthrate...the people in those countries don't have access to either education or birth control. It's easy to sit here and say "Why are they dumb?" They need to be educated about abstinence and protection, first of all.

I know of people who have gotten AIDs from contaminated blood...recently. Everyone's human, and mistakes are made. All generalizations are wrong. :)