Title

  • Access to Medicines and the Transformation of the South African State: Exploring the Interactions of Legal and Policy Changes in Health, Intellectual Property, Trade, and Competition Law in the Context of South Africa's HIV/AIDS Pandemic

Published In

Date

  • 2012

Volume

  • 37

Creator

Bibliographic Citation

  • 37 Law & Social Inquiry 297 (2012)

Abstract

  • Access to essential medicines remains highly contested around the globe and a vital
    issue in South Africa. At the same time, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the demand for
    medical services are having important political and social consequences in a society heavily
    impacted by the pandemic. Legal and institutional changes within the postapartheid state
    in South Africa are in part a reflection of the interaction of opportunities and constraints
    both within and across the country's geographical boundaries. The transformation of state
    institutions in this context has been set in motion and shaped by different policy imperatives:
    from demands for medical care to the promotion of economic competition and the
    need to implement international trade commitments, including specific levels of intellectual
    property protection. Despite a strong commitment to social change, to address the
    legacies of apartheid, as well as the relative strength and political will of the dominant
    political party, the African National Congress, the transformation of a number of state
    institutions was significantly framed by the global environment in which the country found
    itself. In the context of South Africa's democratic transition and the devastating HIV/
    AIDS pandemic, the state responded to a range of shifting opportunities and constraints,
    whether real or perceived. As a result, impetus was given to different policies and
    competing political and economic factions, enabling particular institutions and rules to be
    embraced, created, reshaped, or simply foregone.

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