This is an archive of the Treatment Action Campaign's public documents from
December 1998 until October 2008. I created this website because the TAC's
website appears unmaintained and people were concerned that it
was becoming
increasingly hard to find important documents.
The menu items have
been slightly edited and a new stylesheet applied to the site. But none of the
documents have been edited, not even for minor errors. The text appears on this
site as obtained from the Internet Archive.
The period covered by
the archive encompassed the campaign for HIV medicines, the civil disobedience
campaigns, the Competition Commission complaints, the 2008 xenophobic violence
and the PMTCT, Khayelitsha health workers and Matthias Rath court cases.
Petition to Pfizer |
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Mr Barry Smith, CEO PFIZER South Africa PO Box 783720, Sandton Johannesburg, 2146 Fax: 011 884 8409 Dear Sir As you know, HIV/AIDS is a major problem in our country and in Southern Africa. Your company sells the drug Diflucan (Fluconazole) a life-saving drug that also improves the quality of life for people with AIDS. This drug is used to treat cryptoccal meningitis and systemic thrush. People with AIDS die if they cannot get access to it. Diflucan sells at R150.00 for one 200mg capsule in the private sector and the public sector buys it at R58.00 from your company. Many people cannot afford to buy the drug in the private sector. Some public sector hospitals do not provide it any longer because the system is over-burdened and cannot afford the price your company charges. We have learnt that in India where Diflucan is not patented, a generic version sells at R7.00 per 200mg capsule and in Thailand for less than R3.00 per 200mg capsule. We urge you to decrease your price to less than R3.00 per 200mg capsule as requested by the Treatment Action Campaign. This will save many lives. A reduction such as this will show people that Pfizer is prepared to consider life before excessive profit. Yours faithfully, Name: Signature: Address: |