Paper Looks At Human Rights Side Of IP And Medicines Access

A new report released by the Yale Global Health Justice Partnership looks at the use of human rights to improve access to medicines by reducing the barriers that intellectual property laws create to such access.

The report, entitled, “A Human Rights Approach to Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines,” is available here [pdf].

Specifically, the paper evaluates “four domains where human rights-based strategies might have greater impact if further developed: (1) in domestic court cases that deal with IP laws; (2) in the United Nations human rights system; (3) in efforts to promote corporate accountability among pharmaceutical companies; and (4) in multilateral and regional alliances intended to more effectively oppose free trade agreements (FTAs) that threaten health,” according to a press release.

The paper “identifies work at the national level as particularly promising, citing several important recent cases where courts have used constitutional human rights protections limit or invalidate IP law,” it said.

“The report demonstrates that courts are beginning to understand that intellectual property rights cannot be interpreted and protected in a vacuum; they must be read co-extensively with other, more fundamental rights, such as the right to health. We hope that the report helps activists and lawyers to make more effective use of human rights law to improve access to medicines. More specifically, we hope this paper spurs the development of more detailed litigation strategies that can be used in nations that respect the right to health,” said report co-author Hannah Brennan, a Yale Law School student.

Prof. Carlos Correa of the South Centre in the release said the report “shows an interesting evolution from the concept that States have the right to use TRIPS flexibilities to the idea that they have a duty to do so under their human rights obligations, as well as how these obligations have been enforced by national courts in cases where access to medicines was at stake. The report provides useful insights on ways in which governments, NGOs and the private sector can contribute to move human rights from concept to practice.”