Are we making the same mistakes today in containing the coronavirus as we did in the fight against AIDS? The answer is yes. A look back at the past shows that.
In 1996, researchers introduced a highly effective combination therapy and revolutionized AIDS treatment. This only succeeded because industrialized nations provided research for this with billions from public money. But while the sick in rich countries received the new medicines, millions of infected people in poorer regions lost their lives. They simply had no access to the medication. The strict patent protection was partly responsible for this.
South Africa resisted and passed a law in 1997 that allowed the import and manufacture of generic drugs in order to secure access to essential medicines. As a result, 40 pharmaceutical companies dragged the African state to court and only withdrew the lawsuit after violent protests.
Even today, the pharmaceutical industry is resisting suspending patents or sharing life-saving knowledge, although a large part of the corona research was initiated with public money. At the same time, rich industrial nations are hoarding vaccines that are needed elsewhere.
Pharma’s lawsuit against South Africa is one of the darkest chapters in disease control. Industry and privileged countries now have the chance to make amends. That would take a lot more pressure from politics. But the signs are bad – especially in the pharmaceutical country of Switzerland.