The right to science as a guidepost for fair access to COVID-19 vaccines: investigating the interpretive role of the united nations committee on economic, social and cultural rights. (Special Issue: COVID-19 vaccine equity and human rights.)
Health and Human Rights: An International Journal
; 24(2):191-204, 2022.
Article
in English
| CAB Abstracts | ID: covidwho-2276138
ABSTRACT
Facing the unmet need for new, affordable medicines for public health crises, how should states' duty to ensure that everyone shares in the benefits of science be understood in relation to pandemic vaccine supply, and how has the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights monitored the implementation of this right? In this paper, we examine the contours and content of state obligations with regard to pandemic vaccine supply under the right to science (article 15(1)(b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), focusing on three aspects of state obligations mobilizing public resources for developing and disseminating the benefits of scientific progress in areas of public health need;preventing unreasonably high medicines prices;and international cooperation, particularly in a globalized health emergency. The committee regularly assesses state parties' implementation of their obligations under the covenant, culminating in the issuing of concluding observations, which often serve as a basis for the next round of periodic reporting by states and can thereby direct future state action. Our analysis of the committee's concluding observations reveals that the committee has inconsistently applied its own guidance on the right to science regarding medicines and intellectual property in these monitoring exercises. These findings inform a rights-based response to medical innovation for health crises and advance the Sustainable Development Goal target on medicines research and development.
Laws and Regulations [DD500], Host Resistance and Immunity [HH600], Human Immunology and Allergology [VV055], Non-drug Therapy and Prophylaxis of Humans [VV710], Health Economics [EE118], Policy and Planning [EE120], Health Services [UU350], Prion; Viral; Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens of Humans [VV210], health care, public health, disease prevention, immunization, vaccination, vaccines, epidemiology, health services, human diseases, risk factors, coronavirus disease 2019, immune sensitization, man, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, 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, SARS-CoV-2
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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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