12/10/2022 | Feminist Struggles against the Patents Regime

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and the number of cases is increasing. But high drug prices mean many people don’t have access to adequate treatment and selects who has access to medication and who not. Structural inequalities such as economic conditions therefore play a major role in the chances of surviving the disease especially in the global south. Because of this reason feminist movements are organizing transnationally actions for equitable access to breast cancer treatment. Concrete topics on this Panel are the effects of intellectual property rights on equitable access to breast cancer treatment and and recent developments in countries of the global south. And even more broadly, we’re going to discuss in what extend feminist approaches provide new perspectives for the access to medicines movement.
Host:
Leena Menghaney | Coordinator of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign in India
Speaker:
Baone Twala | Human Rights Advocate and Patent Law Expert and Legal Researcher at SECTION27
Priti Krishtel | Health Justice Lawyer and Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK)
Kalyani Menon-Sen | Researcher and Activist on the impacts of neoliberal economic policies on women