AIDS 2016: March urging India to protect access to medicine
The shrinking space for civil society in India will have an impact on the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
That’s according to human rights activists gathered at the International AIDS Conference in Durban.
A human rights and HIV group known as Lawyers Collective which ensures that policies are used to expand affordable medicines has been under attack by the Indian government for its position on HIV and LGBT issues.
Member of Doctors Without Borders, Leena Menghaney says India is facing pressure from pharmaceutical lobbies to roll back the development of quality affordable generic medicines for the world.
She says India is a supplier of more than 80% of generic AIDS drugs used in low and middle income countries.
Section27’s Mark Heywood says there’re concerns that if it can happen in India, it could happen to South Africa.
Earlier delegates and members of civil society groups marched to the Indian Consulate and handed over a memorandum. It was received and signed by a representative from the Indian government.
Matthew Kavanagh from Health Gap says a major concern is the Indian government's proposed changing generic drug laws around patents making these easier to access.