According to a World Health Organisation report, cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. In 2015, 8.8 million people died as a result of cancer and 70% of those deaths happened in low-and-middle income countries.
The picket was organised by various civil society organisations including the Cancer Alliance, SECTION27, Doctors Without Borders, Treatment Action Campaign, Knowledge Ecology International and Public Eye.The World Health Organisation, our governments, need to put pressure on pharmaceutical companies to stop making a profit out of our lives.
Civil society organisations were also concerned by the lack of transparency from the pharmaceutical industry.The research and development category that pharmaceuticals hide behind needs to be transparent. Transparency is one of the principles of good governance, of principles in which you negotiate the price. Lots of meetings and deals happen behind closed doors. Prices cannot be negotiated on our behalf,” Meyer said.
Given Selepe, one of the demonstrators on Thursday, said: “We are here on behalf of people who are in lack of medications for illnesses such as cancer, HIV and TB. The possibilities of those people getting medicines, especially cancer, is low due to poverty and lack of knowledge of their rights. We are here to fight for their rights.”