For the past 20 years there has been a growing epidemic resulting in radically unequal access to anti-retro viral drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. An epidemic that not only makes treatment unaffordable, but has also resulted in a situation where 90% of pharmaceutical research is directed at just 10% of the global disease burden. This in turn has led to the total neglect of some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Top of the list is HIV co-infection with Tuberculosis (TB), the main cause of death for HIV positive populations in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.What we are witnessing is an epidemic of intellectual property: A modern-day gold rush by Pharmaceuticals who are using patents to stake ever more wide-ranging claims on life-saving drugs whilst fostering a culture of secrecy that hampers the development of new drugs.Patent Fever takes a fresh look at the controversy surrounding patents and access to medicines in the country hardest hit by HIV: South Africa. The film documents both the progress on access to treatment and the new under-reported explosion of HIV-TB co-infection that threatens to undermine it. The film draws on previously unseen archive footage and the personal testimony of key players - including Vuyiseka Dubula, the new inspirational head of the Treatment Action Campaign - to narrate the latest twist in the decades long global fight against AIDS. Less