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Avafia, Tenu --- "IP and life sciences: a case study of South Africa" [2017] ELECD 824; in Matthews, Duncan; Zech, Herbert (eds), "Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and the Life Sciences" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 408

Book Title: Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and the Life Sciences

Editor(s): Matthews, Duncan; Zech, Herbert

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783479443

Section: Chapter 23

Section Title: IP and life sciences: a case study of South Africa

Author(s): Avafia, Tenu

Number of pages: 16

Abstract/Description:

The Republic of South Africa maintains a complex web of interlinked laws and policies of relevance to the regulation of the life sciences. While extensive, some of the laws in question are both outdated in some cases and, in others, contain significant gaps, some of which may impede access to essential health technologies. While the South African government retains a comparatively large degree of capacity within its government departments, legislative gaps and capacity constraints around effective implementation remain. Moreover, there is policy incoherence in national-level legislation and regional initiatives, which, if not addressed by law reform and increased co-ordination, could undermine the incorporation and effective use of an enabling legislative and policy framework. This chapter will explore each of these themes in more detail below. Chief among the relevant legal instruments in South Africa is the Constitution,adopted after the dissolution of apartheid, of which the right to health, Section 27(1), is an important component: ‘everyone has the right to have access to health care services including reproductive health care’.