A needle in a haystack? Human rights framing at the World Trade Organization for access to COVID-19 vaccines. (Special Issue: COVID-19 vaccine equity and human rights.)
Health and Human Rights: An International Journal
; 24(2):141-157, 2022.
Article
in English
| CAB Abstracts | ID: covidwho-2276137
ABSTRACT
How and why is implicit and explicit human rights language used by World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators in debates about intellectual property, know-how, and technology needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, and how do these findings compare with negotiators' human rights framing in 2001? Sampling 26 WTO members and two groups of members, this study uses document analysis and six key informant interviews with WTO negotiators, a representative of the WTO Secretariat, and a nonstate actor. In WTO debates about COVID-19 medicines, negotiators scarcely used human rights frames (e.g., "human rights" or "right to health"). Supporters used both human rights frames and implicit language (e.g., "equity," "affordability," and "solidarity") to garner support for the TRIPS waiver proposal, while opponents and WTO members with undetermined positions on the waiver used only implicit language to advocate for alternative proposals. WTO negotiators use human rights frames to appeal to previously agreed language about state obligations;for coherence between their domestic values and policy on one hand, and their global policy positions on the other;and to catalyze public support for the waiver proposal beyond the WTO. This mixed-methods design yields a rich contextual understanding of the modern role of human rights language in trade negotiations relevant for public health.
Agencies and Organizations [DD100], Laws and Regulations [DD500], Host Resistance and Immunity [HH600], Prion; Viral; Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens of Humans [VV210], access, coronavirus disease 2019, disease prevention, health protection, human diseases, human health, human rights, immunization, law, public health, public opinion, trade, vaccination, vaccines, viral diseases, World Trade Organization, immune sensitization, man, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, USA, Homo, Hominidae, primates, mammals, vertebrates, Chordata, animals, eukaryotes, Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Coronavirinae, Coronaviridae, Nidovirales, positive-sense ssRNA Viruses, ssRNA Viruses, RNA Viruses, viruses, APEC countries, high income countries, North America, America, OECD Countries, very high Human Development Index countries, legal aspects, legal principles, SARS-CoV-2, United States of America, viral infections
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Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
CAB Abstracts
Topics:
Vaccines
Language:
English
Journal:
Health and Human Rights: An International Journal
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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