A seminar on the Hazel Tau case was held by the Competition Commission and the Health Justice Initiative on World Aids Day to commemorate the monumental role that the case played in the fight for affordable antiretrovirals in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Competition law is one measure available to progressively realise the right to healthcare to all and it needs to be actively used, otherwise we would not be meeting our constitutional mandate as an entity.”At the time of the case in 2002, 5.9 million South Africans were infected with HIV/Aids and were unable to access treatment, added the director of the Health Justice Initiative, Fatima Hassan.
Tau was one of the first complainants against the pharmaceutical companies and although her treatment was sponsored, she maintained that “with or without a sponsor, I was willing to push until we get treatment”.“It was a bittersweet experience because everyone could not be saved. I was still in pain. I lost friends, family, colleagues,” she said.
“We lost millions of people who were breadwinners, which has left the country with orphans and child-headed households.”“ that people think is easier, but it is not easier to disclose. It depends on the type of support you have”.