Global Health Governance between Hard and Soft Law: The Challenges of Pharmaceutical Companies Social Responsibility

ABSTRACT

The debate on the relationship between business and human rights has gradually grown in institutional and doctrinal terms, as well as the recognition that mechanisms to promote the social responsibility of these private actors are lacking. In this context, this study investigates the limits and possibilities of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of transnational pharmaceutical companies for the unequal access to essential medicines in the global South, a reality aggravated in pandemic contexts such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. To this end, it discusses the actors, factors and processes of global health governance and debates some CSR strategies in the light of those elements. Methodologically, the study makes a review of the specialized literature, document and primary data analysis and conducts a normative approach of the topic. © 2023 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. All rights reserved.