The Realisation Of The Right To Health Is Heavily Dependent On The Legal Framework Applied For The Production And Distribution Of Medicines, Including Intellectual Property Rights
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 13
- 1 min read
Muskan Sangwan, Queen Mary University of London
ABSTRACT
The paper critically examines how intellectual property rights, especially patents on medicines, clash with the right to health under Article 12 of the ICESCR, making essential drugs unaffordable for millions in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights historical tensions—from the AIDS crisis to COVID-19 "vaccine apartheid"—where patent monopolies drove sky-high prices, despite TRIPS flexibilities like compulsory licensing and parallel imports affirmed in the 2001 Doha Declaration. Through case studies like India's Novartis ruling and South Africa's pharma lawsuit, plus critiques of EU TRIPS-plus deals and corporate profiteering, the analysis urges reforms: robust use of licensing, delinking R&D from profits via public funding, and treating health tech as global commons to prioritize equity over commerce.
