Articles for Marcus Low

Two years into the Covid disaster, where do we stand?

Far fewer people are dying but the disease remains extremely serious

By and

Science | 12 May 2022

How to boost the Covid-19 vaccine rollout

Government has got a few things right, but there’s so much more it can still do

By and

Opinion | 18 August 2021

How to vaccinate millions as quickly as possible

Don’t try to micromanage the rollout

By and

Opinion | 14 May 2021

Here’s what the models predict about Covid-19

But beware: soothsaying has a checkered history

By and

Analysis | 22 May 2020

Covid-19: What do South Africa’s numbers mean?

We explain confirmed cases, death rates and more

By and

Science | 8 April 2020

Parliament can help blind people access books

Only the publishing industry stands in the way

By

Opinion | 2 August 2017

Don’t fall for “illegal” protest nonsense

Government Twitter account is wrong on the law

By and

Opinion | 5 April 2017

“No credibility as a researcher” - a letter to News24

A former Media24 journalist criticises the country's biggest online news publication for publishing AIDS denialism

By

Opinion | 11 March 2016

Ten things you probably don’t know about HIV in 2016

The HIV world is used to things moving fast, in a way that most medicine just doesn’t.

By , , and

Information | 22 February 2016

Time to demand equal rights for blind people

Being blind or visually impaired means many things in life are simply much more difficult than what they are for other people. Some of these things we can do something about, others we can’t. There are two fundamentally different ways for society and governments to respond to this unpleasant reality. The one option is pity and non-integration - the other is to forget about pity and to take practical steps to make things as equal as possible so that blind people can integrate into society.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 18 November 2015

Will gold miners get justice?

In King Leopold’s Ghost, the historian Adam Hochschild uncovers the horrors committed in the Belgian Congo in the years before and after 1900. It is a history of slavery, murder and mutilation – anyone who’s seen the pictures of piles of cut-off hands cannot but be horrified by it.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 9 October 2015

Copyright bill will empower blind people

Just over two years after the books for the blind treaty was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, South Africa has finally taken steps toward ratifying the treaty.

Marcus Low

Analysis | 26 August 2015

No sympathy for metered taxi companies protesting against Uber

I have taken thousands of trips in metered taxis in Cape Town over the last ten years. In the last year or so I’ve switched to predominantly Uber taxis. Since I can’t legally drive due to poor eyesight, these are my primary ways of navigating the city. I therefore have a very significant interest in the battle between metered taxi companies and Uber. The aim of regulating an industry must ultimately be to serve the public interest. In the case of the metered taxi industry, the aim must be to ensure that a safe, reliable and affordable service is provided to the public, whilst of course ensuring that drivers are working under fair conditions of employment.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 13 July 2015

Pharma plot has consequences for the blind

If a secret plot by foreign pharmaceutical companies and their local subsidiaries to delay South Africa's IP policy process until after the elections succeeds, non-pharmaceutical sectors will also be affected.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 29 January 2014

Patents must serve the public interest

It is in the interests of large multinational companies to secure as many patents as possible. The Treatment Action Campaign, in line with the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property (IP), argues that patents should only be granted for medicines that are truly new and innovative, for example a brand new cancer cure.

Marcus Low

Opinion | 24 October 2013