Patents Blamed for the Unaffordable ARVs

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says that restrictive patents on new antiretroviral drugs are hindering their use in developing countries such as South Africa.

MSF access campaign medical director, Nathan Ford, argues that, “The power balance has to change as developing countries begin to make use of their rights to overcome patents, when monopoly sellers price their drugs out of reach.”

“…we fully support countries like India that are using their new patent laws to deal with monopoly abuses. If high prices prevent access to life-saving medicines, they override them,” explains Ford.

To read the article titled, “Patents make ARVs unaffordable: NGO,” click here.