South Africa, Colombia fighting drugmakers over access to TB, HIV drugs

Scientists work at an Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines facility in Cape Town, South Africa, on Oct 19, 2021. [AP Photo]

South Africa, Colombia and other countries that lost out in the global race for coronavirus vaccines are taking a more combative approach toward drugmakers and pushing back on policies that deny cheap treatment to millions of people with tuberculosis and HIV.

Experts see it as a shift in how such countries deal with pharmaceutical behemoths and say it could trigger more efforts to make lifesaving medicines more widely available.