Access to medicines should not be determined by the size of your wallet. Yet in South Africa, pharmaceutical pricing, patent monopolies and an underfunded public health system combine to deny millions of citizens access to life-saving treatments.

The pharmaceutical sector in South Africa is characterised by a highly concentrated market dominated by multinational corporations, with limited local manufacturing capacity, high medicine prices and inadequate access for lower-income South Africans who rely on the public health system.

SPoT’s Pharmaceutical and Health Sector work stream has identified several priority areas for transformation:

**Local Manufacturing**

South Africa must develop its own pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed our vulnerability when we were unable to manufacture our own vaccines. A transformed pharmaceutical sector must include meaningful local production.

**Patent Reform**

Medicine patent monopolies keep prices artificially high and deny access to generic alternatives. South Africa must use TRIPS flexibilities more aggressively to promote generic competition and reduce medicine prices.

**National Health Insurance**

The proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme represents a historic opportunity to transform health access. SPoT supports NHI as a vehicle for universal health coverage, while advocating for the governance reforms needed to make it work effectively.

**Transformation of Ownership**

The pharmaceutical distribution and retail sectors need meaningful transformation in ownership, management and supply chain to create opportunities for black-owned businesses.

The right to health is a constitutional right. SPoT will campaign vigorously to ensure that right becomes a reality for all South Africans.