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DID YOU KNOW: In 1998 when HIV/AIDS was still in its pandemic stage, the medication for it cost more in SA than it did in Sweden and UK. The South African government led by the ANC obviously, tried to find companies that’ll produce it cheaper but were sued for it (thread)
39 pharmaceutical companies supported by US and most European countries sued Nelson Mandela on behalf of SA for patent laws and violating international trade rules . From 1999-2001,the South African government and global activists waged protests against the lawsuit and it worked
From then on, the pharmaceutical companies donated their drugs which made it easy for other companies to produce it at a cheaper rate and make it accessible to the poor. Even though we remember a different story because of Mbeki’s utterances, the ANC has always been fighting
That fight that the ANC government, activists waged so ARVs can be cheaper has benefited a lot of poor people globally. Today the ANC government together with India are fighting rich countries who are hoarding the COVID19 vaccine for themselves leaving poor countries with nothing
And I know you’ll want to talk to me about the current corruption but I say this not to absolve the ANC of it’s current wrongdoings, but to say in reality there has been some good done by the ANC government and it’ll be disingenuous to not acknowledge that.
For further reading https://twitter.com/peripheralecon/status/1347119268882751488
