During this week’s Inspire2Live World Campus session—where we come together to learn, share, and act—our guest speaker was Dr Wilbert Bannenberg from the Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation (PAF). Dr Bannenberg has spent decades fighting to bring essential medicines to underserved populations. Some call him a troublemaker. At Inspire2Live, we call him a hero.

Dr Bannenberg doesn’t just talk—he acts. And ultimately, it’s action that improves the lives of people living with cancer. Talk alone doesn’t change lives. Do your homework by all means, but once you have, you must act.

One striking example: Dr Bannenberg took the South African government to court over its refusal to make HIV/AIDS medication accessible. At the time, South Africa was facing 1,500 new infections and 1,000 deaths every single day, yet the government refused affordable medicines from India at $360 per year—choosing instead the pharmaceutical industry’s $7,000 price tag. His motivation? Human rights. Every government has a fundamental duty to protect the health of its citizens. When they fail, they betray their people. And when that happens, we must do as Wilbert does—stand up and act. Though he lost in court, public pressure and naming-and-shaming eventually made the medicines available. The people won.Another example: the ongoing PAF case against AbbVie about the drug Humira. A verdict is expected on July 9 this year. Humira is a powerful, effective medicine that has helped countless people with rheumatoid arthritis. But PAF argues—and rightly so—that the profit margins are obscene. The case centres on excessive profit, and while “excessive” can be subjective, a gross profit margin of 78% on a life-saving medicine crosses every ethical line.

There is far too much talking in healthcare. We see endless conferences filled with mutual admiration and noble words like “patients must be at the centre.” But let’s be honest: patients are already central because without them, there is no business. Without patients there’s no revenue, no profit. And to be clear, this isn’t due to bad intentions. Most people we meet in healthcare genuinely want to do good. But this is how the medical-industrial complex operates.

Without action, patients die. Yet there is another way. Wilbert Bannenberg showed us. Now it’s our turn.

You can watch his inspiring talk here >

Peter Kapitein
Patient Advocate, Inspire2Live