PHM-Exch> Fwd: SouthNews: Human Rights Council adopts Resolution calling for global, equitable access to medicines, vaccines and other medical technologies

[Claudio Schuftan]

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From: South Centre <south at southcentre.int>
Date: Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 9:09 PM
Subject: SouthNews: Human Rights Council adopts Resolution calling for
global, equitable access to medicines, vaccines and other medical
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SOUTHNEWS
No. 418, 2 August 2022

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*Human Rights Council adopts Resolution calling for global, equitable
access to medicines, vaccines and other medical technologies*

On 7 July 2022, the Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted without a vote
Resolution A/HRC/50/L.13/Rev.1 (hereinafter ‘the Resolution’) on “Access to
medicines, vaccines and other health products in the context of the right
of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health”.[1] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftn1> The Resolution was
proposed by a group of developing countries (Brazil, China, Egypt, India,
Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand). It highlights the unequal
access to vaccines and other medical technologies during COVID-19 and
beyond, recalling the various resolutions and decisions on the enjoyment of
the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as
the 2022 decisions which stressed the “need for ensuring equitable,
affordable, timely and universal access for all countries to vaccines in
response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic”.[2]
<#m_-4476181870557409004__ftn2> Importantly, it recalls the various human
rights implications resulting from the lack of affordable and equitable
access to such products, particularly for the global South, women and
girls, and other marginalized communities.

The Resolution also adopts a comprehensive view of the right to health,
making reference to the detrimental implications of the COVID-19 pandemic
on the combat against other global health issues, including diseases such
as HIV and tuberculosis, as well as non-communicable diseases. It also
acknowledges the developmental and socio-economic implications of the
pandemic, with references to the Declaration on the Right to Development
and States’ duties therein, the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the
Sustainable Development Goals.

The Resolution reaffirms the importance of the World Health Organization
(WHO)’s Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and
Intellectual Property, and recalls the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS
Agreement and Public Health, which reaffirmed countries’ policy space to
make use of TRIPS flexibilities.[3] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftn3>

The Resolution also innovates by referring to various emerging processes
and issues which are at the core of current and future pandemic responses
and of measures to ensure broader access to health technologies. These
include the need for improvement in transparency in the pharmaceutical
sector – including in research and development (R&D) and pricing –,
manufacturing and regulatory capacity, technology transfer, and the need
for more innovation for neglected diseases.

In its operative paragraphs, the Resolution addresses, among others, the
following:

   1. Recognizes that timely, equitable and unhindered access to safe,
   affordable, effective and quality medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and
   therapeutics and other health products and technologies are fundamental to
   the right to health and universal health coverage (both individual and
   collective dimensions);
   2. Stresses States’ responsibilities to that aim, including specific
   language on “access to immunization as a global public good”;
   3. Calls States to make full use of the TRIPS flexibilities[4]
   <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftn4> to improve access to all health
   technologies (and not exclusively vaccines), and also in the context of
   non-communicable diseases;
   4. Reiterates call for the delinkage of the costs of R&D from the prices
   of medical technologies, thereby enhancing access;
   5. Urges action on research and capacity-building initiatives for
   science and technology, measures to strengthen regional and local
   production, the fair and equitable sharing of data, the promotion of
   technology transfer and know-how, efforts to build capacity in developing
   countries, including mRNA vaccine technologies, exploration of approaches
   to equitable access and fair distribution of health products;
   6. Recognizes the importance of innovative funding mechanisms and
   arrangements such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
   Malaria, the Gavi Alliance, Unitaid, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT)
   Accelerator initiative and the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP),
   while also making reference to the need to avoid undue influence and
   conflict of interest by companies;
   7. Encourages new and improved frameworks to adequately reward
   innovation, pricing and the affordability of health products, while
   leveraging innovative technologies.


The Resolution thus advocates for alternative innovation models that
overcome the shortcomings of the current model based on intellectual
property protection, and explicitly makes a call for countries to actively
use all existing mechanisms and all the TRIPS flexibilities.

It also requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights to “enhance its work, within its mandate, in the field of the
human rights dimension of access to medicines and vaccines”, and invites
the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health to continue to
focus on human rights dimensions of access to medical technologies. Very
concretely, it requests the Office of the High Commissioner to, *in verbis*:

*“organize three expert workshops,  to provide technical assistance to
States throughout the next three years on the human rights dimension of
access to medicines and vaccines in the context of the right of everyone to
the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including
with regard to good practices, key challenges and new developments, and to
present to the Human Rights Council a compendium of good practices at its
fifty-third session and an analytical study on key challenges at its
fifty-sixth session, with a view to presenting a comprehensive report,
including new developments, at its fifty-ninth session, and to prepare
these submissions in an accessible and easy-to-read format” (highlights
added).*

The Resolution was warmly welcomed by civil society organizations working
on access to health technologies and human rights. In a joint statement,
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Knowledge Ecology International
(KEI), and the People’s Vaccine Alliance noted that “*this resolution sends
another clear message that access to medicines and diagnostics, including
COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments, is a core component of the right
to health and central to other fundamental human rights, including the
right to life.” *It also notes that governments must respond to its human
rights obligations by “*addressing the disproportionate impact of global
health crises on marginalized groups, as well as fostering knowledge and
technology transfer, and making full use of flexibilities in global
intellectual property rules to adequately respond to and prepare for public
health needs”.*[5] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftn5>

The strong language of the Resolution can be seen as even more pivotal
given the fact that, as reported by KEI, developed countries such as the
UK, the US and the European Union have made several proposals to water down
language on equity and access. [6] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftn6>

Given the content of the Resolution and the process for its timely
approval, the importance of the Resolution cannot be understated. It
reasserts the need to integrate equity concerns into the human rights
agenda and to consider the implications of intellectual property (IP)
rights. It equally calls for action and monitoring of critical
developments, particularly as local production and manufacturing capacity
issues continue to grow in importance in other fora, particularly in the
WHO. In particular, the Resolution recalls how trade and health continue to
be inter-related and intrinsic issues in global governance, as dramatically
shown during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provides concrete actions for
future HRC meetings as to develop and provide new inputs to the topic.

Despite the importance of the Resolution, as adopted, a future resolution
on the matter by the HRC should further elaborate on the obligations by all
countries with respect to access to health technologies as a component of
the right to health, including for example (i) a clearer reference to the
impact of rising and unaffordable high prices of pharmaceuticals, and the
need to address this issue; (ii) more emphasis on local production
especially in developing countries as to avoid dependence on imported
pharmaceuticals; (iii) specific references to the waiving of IP rights in
times of pandemics, including all medical technologies; (iv) transparency
requirements from R&D costs to manufacturing and final prices, as well as
on contractual provisions.

The South Centre provides no-cost technical assistance to developing
countries’ officials, including policymakers, patent and regulatory
authorities, judicial authorities, and negotiators, to adopt a public
health approach in designing and implementing IP policies. This also means
monitoring that human rights implications are adequately taken into account
in trade negotiations.  For more information and to submit a specific
request, please see: https://ipaccessmeds.southcentre.int/
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*See the resolution here:*
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F50%2FL.13%2FREV.1&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False
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------------------------------
[1] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftnref1> See the Human Rights Council Press
Release here:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/07/human-rights-council-concludes-fiftieth-regular-session-after-adopting-23?sub-site=HRC
<https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=c4acc7c7ff&e=4fac633f11>
.
[2] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftnref2> As per the Resolution’s Preamble: “
*Recalling* Human Rights Council resolution 41/10 of 11 July 2019 and all
relevant previous resolutions and decisions on the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
adopted by the Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human
Rights, including resolutions 44/2 of 16 July 2020, 46/14 of 23 March 2021,
49/19 of 1 April 2022 and 49/25, also of 1 April 2022, in which the Council
highlighted the need for ensuring equitable, affordable, timely and
universal access for all countries to vaccines in response to the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and for promoting and protecting
economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing
inequalities in the recovery from the pandemic”.
[3] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftnref3> Also see, on the issue of TRIPS
Flexibilities and the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health: Nirmalya
Syam, Viviana Munoz, Carlos M. Correa and Vitor Ido*, **“*The Doha
Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health on its Twentieth
Anniversary”, South Centre Policy Brief 107, November 2021. Available from
https://www.southcentre.int/policy-brief-107-november-2021/
<https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=292f916cc8&e=4fac633f11>
; Muhammad Zaheer Abbas, *“*Twenty Years After Doha: An Analysis of the Use
of the TRIPS Agreement’s Public Health Flexibilities in India”, South
Centre Research Paper 158, June 2022. Available from
https://www.southcentre.int/research-paper-158-15-june-2022/
<https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=5357e3c962&e=4fac633f11>
;  Kiyoshi Adachi, *“*An Examination of Selected Public Health Exceptions
in Asian Patent Laws”, South Centre Research Paper 152, April 2022.
Available from https://www.southcentre.int/research-paper-152-21-april-2022/
<https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=1c7f2df6c8&e=4fac633f11>;
Yousuf Vawda and Bonginkosi Shozi, “Doha Twenty Years On – Has The Promise
Been Betrayed”, South Views 238, June 2022. Available from
https://www.southcentre.int/southviews-no-238-20-june-2022/
<https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=46d97cb73e&e=4fac633f11>.

[4] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftnref4> The South Centre provides free
technical assistance to developing countries on the implementation of TRIPS
Flexibilities. For more information, see:
https://ipaccessmeds.southcentre.int/
<https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=c6fae5932b&e=4fac633f11>
.
[5] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftnref5>
https://peoplesvaccine.org/resources/media-releases/un-hrc-50-access-to-medicines-Resolution-reaction/
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[6] <#m_-4476181870557409004__ftnref6>
https://www.keionline.org/humanrightscouncilhrc50
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and https://www.keionline.org/37960
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*Author: Vitor Ido is Programme Officer of the Health, Intellectual
Property and Biodiversity Programme (HIPB) of the South Centre. *

*SOUTHNEWS is an e-newsletter service of the South Centre providing
information and news on topical issues from a South perspective.*



*To view other articles in SouthNews, please click here
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For more information, please contact Anna Bernardo of the South Centre:
Email abernardo at southcentre.int <abernardo at southcentre.int>, or telephone
+41 22 791 80 50.*
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