People's Health Movement South Africa Solid Gold Clients

Moderator : Maaza Seyoum
Partnerships & Communications Lead African Alliance

Guests:
Dr. Githinji Gitahi
Group CEO of AMREF Health Africa

Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi
Exec Director if the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC)

Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan
Management Strategist / Movement Co-ordinator at Africans Rising

In this episode, Peter Van Heusden talks about 'What we know and don't know about this new variant" and Lauren Paremoer (PHM SA) addresses 'The politics of the new variant and vaccine apartheid.'

Moderator:
Kate Stegeman | Advocacy Coordinator Access Campaign MSF (South Africa)

Speakers:
Patrick Tippoo | Executive Director of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI) and Head of Science and innovation at Biovac (South Africa)
Sun Kim | Director, Health Policy Centre, People’s Health Institute (South Korea)
Gustavo Matta | Associate researcher in Public Health, FIOCRUZ (Brazil)

Moderator:
Prof Asha George

Guests:
Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo
Moses Mulumba
Itai Rusike

How greed and self-interest have expanded the gulf between the Global North and the Global South and given rise to VACCINE APARTHEID and VACCINE INEQUITY.

Moderator: Maaza Seyoum
Partnerships & Communications
Lead: African Alliance

Guests:
Dr Kamran Abbasi
British Medical Journal - Executive Editor for Content

Dr Fifa Rahman
Civil Society Representative, Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, representing Health Poverty Action

Dr Peter Singer
Special Advisor to the Director General at World Health Organization

Fatima Hassan
Director: Health Justice Initiative

Moderator:
Prof. Leslie London | UCT & PHM SA

Panelists:
Candice Sehoma - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF);
Prof Rodrigo Uprimny – National Univ of Columbia. Member of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
Prof. Yousuf Abdoola Vawda - Univ of KZN

During the pandemic, we have sharply highlighted the inequitable access to care and prevention for COVID-19, and the terrible impact that has had on the health of the most vulnerable in South Africa.

The inequity in the response to COVID-19 reflects the highly unequal and divided South Africa care system even prior to this.

Moreover, our legislative framework for access to medicines and health care technologies has long been problematic, denying people access to their rights to health care. In the joint Civil Society submission on South Africa’s report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in 2018, obstacles posed by patents were highlighted. The submission noted that “A patent law reform process began in 2009, but nearly a decade later, no new legislation has been enacted. Patent legislation that protects public health could help facilitate generic competition, cut prices and increase access to essential medicines.” Fast forward three years, still no progress.

Access to medicine and health technologies has been clearly demonstrated under COVID-19 as a critical issue, with patents obstructing access to diagnostics for COVID-19. Obstacles posed by Intellectual Property barriers loom large as one of the key contributory reasons behind vaccine inequity.

The webinar seeks to answer some of these questions:

Why is there need for need for domestic patent law reform to achieve right to health
Is flexibilities and compulsory licensing is accessible in Africa
What does the right to health and the right to benefit from Scientific Progress mean in practice when we face barriers in access to health technologies?
What lessons can we draw from International Guidance on this matter?