The global AIDS crisis has reached epidemic proportions in the Republic of South Africa, where nearly 1 in 10 citizens are HIV positive. While patients in the West enjoy widely accessible treatments that allow them to live longer, fuller lives, treatment in Africa is practically non-existent. The drugs, manufactured by U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies with exclusive patents, are priced far out of the range that even Africa's most developed nations - including South Africa - can afford. At the center of this debate is the ongoing dispute between the US and South Africa regarding intellectual property rights, compulsory licensing, and parallel importing of HIV medication. Lawmakers, public health officials, activists, and the drug companies continue to fight about which comes first - public health or corporate profits. The central question to this debate is "Which is more important: public health or protection of patents and intellectual property?" If one...