Access

Access is a multi-part podcast series that looks at the impact of Intellectual Property (IP), specifically patents on accessing health care in the context of COVID-19. Each week, we will be joined by local and global experts to discuss and make sense of global developments that affect us locally in South Africa.

Presented by Fatima Hassan.

Produced by the Health Justice Initiative and Volume.

Weekly English South Africa News Commentary · Politics

5 Episodes

Episode 5 - Equitable Covid-19 vaccine procurement and distribution

In episode 5 we discuss the important implications of a court case lodged by Afriforum and Solidarity against the Minister of Health and 16 Others in January 2021. They brought an urgent court challenge to the authority of the national government to be the “sole procurer of Covid-19 vaccines” in…

12 May 2021 26 min

Episode 4 - Access to vaccines for COVID-19

Episode 4 is the final episode of ACCESS In episode 4 we discuss the ‘race’ to find a vaccine for COVID-19 – a vaccine that is available to everyone who needs it. Our expert guests consider global and local developments, vaccine trials, and the politics fueling what is being referred…

14 Aug 2020 39 min

Episode 3 – Access to treatment and Covid-19

In Episode 3 we discuss the clinical, patent and political obstacles to expand treatment access in a time of COVID-19, looking also at our past struggles for access to life saving medicines. We look at the most recent clinical landscape, examine patent barriers and their impact on access, and the…

7 Aug 2020 37 min

Episode 2 – Access to testing for Covid-19

In episode 2 we discuss COVID-19 testing access and the pricing, patent and criteria barriers that prevent South Africa from ramping up community wide testing as originally envisaged. We hear from Dr Shuaib Manjra, who served on the hji's Reference Advisory Group and is a physician on the front line…

24 Jul 2020 27 min

Episode 1 - Intellectual Property

In episode 1 we discuss medicine access and the Intellectual Property barriers that prevent developing countries from accessing life saving medicines with reference to previous successes and challenges in the AIDS access to medicines movement. We also look at how the global patent regime can enable or block access to…

2 Jul 2020 38 min