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COVID-19 Exposes Warped Global Health Power: The System Needs a Course Correction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2021

Aruna KASHYAP Open the ORCID record for Aruna KASHYAP [Opens in a new window] ,
Kyle KNIGHT  and
Margaret WURTH
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Extract

Just three weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized COVID-19 as a global pandemic, novelist Arundhati Roy wrote: ‘Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.’1

Keywords

COVID-19equityhuman rightspharmaceutical companiesvaccines
Type
Developments in the Field
Information
Business and Human Rights Journal , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , October 2021 , pp. 584 - 591
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Conflicts of interest: The authors have engaged in research and public advocacy on access to COVID-19 vaccines.

*

Associate Director, Human Rights Watch.

**

Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch.

***

Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch.

References

1 Arundhati Roy, ‘The Pandemic is a Portal’, Financial Times (3 April 2020), https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca (accessed 14 June 2021).

2 World Health Organization (WHO), ‘WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at 148th Session of the Executive Board’ (18 January 2021), https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-148th-session-of-the-executive-board (accessed 8 July 2021).

3 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), UN Doc 993 UNTS 3 (adopted on 16 December 1966, entered into force 3 January 1976), art 12.

4 Ibid, art 12(c).

5 Constitution of the WHO (adopted on 22 July 1946, entered into force on 7 April 1948).

6 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and WHO, ‘The Right to Health’, Fact Sheet No. 31 (June 2008).

7 ICESCR, note 3, art 12.2(c); Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), ‘General Comment No. 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health’, E/C.12/2000/4 (11 August 2000), para 16.

8 CESCR, ‘Statement on Universal and Equitable Access to Vaccines for the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)’, E/C.12/2020/2 (15 December 2020).

9 OHCHR, ‘Human Rights and Access to COVID-19 Vaccines’ (17 December 2020), https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Events/COVID-19_AccessVaccines_Guidance.pdf (accessed 15 July 2021).

10 OHCHR, ‘COVID-19: Equitable Vaccine Access for All, Including Migrants, is Crucial, Say UN Special Rapporteurs’ (22 January 2021), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26684&LangID=E (accessed 15 July 2021).

11 ‘Global Vaccine Tracker: Distribution’, Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/ (accessed 20 July 2021).

12 Michael Shields et al, ‘Just Give Us the Vaccines, WHO Pleads, as Poor Countries Go Wanting’, Reuters (25 June 2021), https://www.reuters.com/world/just-give-us-vaccines-who-pleads-poor-countries-go-wanting-2021-06-25/ (accessed 15 July 2021).

13 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), UN Doc 999 UNTS 171 (adopted on 16 December 1966, entered into force on 23 March 1976), arts 6(1) and 24; ICESCR, arts 12(1), 11(1) and 15(1)(b).

14 Human Rights Watch, ‘Future Choices: Charting an Equitable Exit from the Covid-19 Pandemic’ (4 March 2021), https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/03/04/future-choices/charting-equitable-exit-covid-19-pandemic (accessed 20 July 2021).

15 ICESCR, note 3, art 15.

16 OHCHR, ‘A Joint Appeal for Open Science by CERN, OHCHR, UNESCO and WHO: Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (27 October 2020), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26433&LangID=E (accessed 15 July 2021).

17 ICESCR, note 3, art 2(1). See also Human Rights Watch, ‘“Whoever Finds the Vaccine Must Share It”: Strengthening Human Rights and Transparency Around COVID-19 Vaccines’ (29 October 2020), 68–72, https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/10/29/whoever-finds-vaccine-must-share-it/strengthening-human-rights-and-transparency (accessed 20 July 2021).

18 Human Rights Watch, note 17.

19 See, e.g., ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health’, A/63/263 (11 August 2008), paras 8–17.

20 CESCR, ‘Statement on Universal Affordable Vaccination Against Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), International Cooperation and Intellectual Property’, E/C.12/2021/1 (21 April 2021), para 9.

21 Ibid.

22 Human Rights Council, ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework’, A/HRC/17/31 (21 March 2011) (UNGPs); UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, ‘Human Rights Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in Relation to Access to Medicines’, A/63/263 (11 August 2008) (Hunt Guidelines).

23 Human Rights Watch, ‘Seven Reasons the EU is Wrong to Oppose the TRIPS Waiver’ (3 June 2021), https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/03/seven-reasons-eu-wrong-oppose-trips-waiver (accessed 15 July 2021).

24 World Trade Organization, ‘Waiver from Certain Provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19: Communication from India and South Africa’, IP/C/W/669 (2 October 2020).

25 See, e.g., Siva Thambisetty et al, ‘The TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal: Creating the Right Incentives in Patent Law and Politics to End the COVID-19 Pandemic’, LSE Legal Studies Working Paper No 06/2021 (24 May 2021), http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3851737 (accessed 15 July 2021).

26 Human Rights Watch, note 17; Oxfam, ‘Small Group of Rich Nations Have Bought Up More Than Half the Future Supply of Leading COVID-19 Vaccine Contenders’ (17 September 2020), https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/small-group-rich-nations-have-bought-more-half-future-supply-leading-covid-19 (accessed 12 July 2021).

27 Lee Fang, ‘Documents Reveal Pharma Plot to Stop Generic COVID-19 Vaccine Waiver’, The Intercept (14 May 2021), https://theintercept.com/2021/05/14/covid-vaccine-waiver-generic-phrma-lobby/ (accessed 20 July 2021); Letter from PHrMA to US President Joseph Biden (5 March 2021), https://phrma.org/-/media/Project/PhRMA/PhRMA-Org/PhRMA-Org/PDF/P-R/20210305-PhRMA-Letter-to-President-Biden.pdf (accessed 20 July 2021).

28 MSF Access Campaign, ‘No Patents, No Monopolies in a Pandemic’ (22 June 2021), https://msfaccess.org/no-patents-no-monopolies-pandemic (accessed 20 July 2021).

29 Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, ‘Waive COVID Vaccine Patents to Put World on War Footing’, The Guardian (7 March 2021), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/05/covid-vaccines-who-chief-backs-patent-waiver-to-boost-production (accessed 20 July 2021).

30 UNAIDS, ‘Former Heads of State and Nobel Laureates Call on President Biden to Waive Intellectual Property Rules for COVID Vaccines’ (14 April 2021), https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2021/april/20210414_letter-waive-intellectual-property-rules-COVID-vaccines (accessed 20 July 2021).

31 David Meyer, ‘Pressure Grows to Drop COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Protections as European Lawmakers Back Waiver’, Fortune (10 June 2021), https://fortune.com/2021/06/10/covid-vaccine-patent-waiver-european-parliament-commission-wto/ (accessed 20 July 2021).

32 Public Services International, ‘TRIPS Waiver: Overview and Background’ (31 May 2021), https://publicservices.international/resources/news/trips-waiver-overview-and-background?id=11882&lang=en (accessed 20 July 2021).

33 People’s Vaccine Alliance, ‘Our Demands’, https://peoplesvaccine.org/our-demands/ (accessed 20 July 2021).

34 See, e.g., ‘Civil Society Letter Supporting Proposal by India and South Africa on Waiver from Certain Provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment, and Treatment of COVID-19’ (15 October 2020), https://www.twn.my/announcement/signonletter/CSOLetter_SupportingWaiverFinal.pdf (accessed 15 July 2021).

35 Office of the US Trade Representative, ‘Statement from Ambassador Katherine Tai on the COVID-19 Trips Waiver’ (5 May 2021), https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2021/may/statement-ambassador-katherine-tai-covid-19-trips-waiver (accessed 15 July 2021).

36 Human Rights Watch, note 23.

37 Corporate Europe Observatory, ‘Big Pharma’s Lobbying Firepower in Brussels: At Least €36 Million A Year (And Likely Far More)’ (31 May 2021), https://corporateeurope.org/en/2021/05/big-pharmas-lobbying-firepower-brussels-least-eu36-million-year-and-likely-far-more (accessed 8 July 2021).

38 MSF Access Campaign, ‘Letters to US President and Trade Representative to Swiftly Implement IP Waiver of All COVID-19 Medical Tools’ (30 June 2021), https://msfaccess.org/letters-us-president-and-trade-representative-swiftly-implement-ip-waiver-all-covid-19-medical (accessed 15 July 2021).

39 United Nations, ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/ (accessed 20 July 2021).

40 Fidler, David P et al, ‘Managing the Pursuit of Health and Wealth: The Key Challenges’ (2009) 373:9660 Lancet, 325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

41 Human Rights Watch, note 17, 37.

42 Knowledge Ecology International, ‘COVID-19 Contracts’, https://www.keionline.org/covid-contracts (accessed 6 July 2021).

43 ‘What Have We Signed Up To? A Comparative Analysis of the EU Deals with BigPharma’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKjNXKLnTik (accessed 20 July 2021).

44 WHO, ‘COVID-19 Technology Access Pool’, https://www.who.int/initiatives/covid-19-technology-access-pool (accessed 9 July 2021).

45 WHO, ‘WHO Supporting South African Consortium to Establish First COVID mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub’ (21 June 2021), https://www.who.int/news/item/21-06-2021-who-supporting-south-african-consortium-to-establish-first-covid-mrna-vaccine-technology-transfer-hub (accessed 15 July 2021).

46 Thambisetty et al, note 25; MSF Access Campaign, ‘Compulsory Licenses, the TRIPS Waiver, and Access to COVID-19 Medical Technologies’ (26 May 2021), https://msfaccess.org/compulsory-licenses-trips-waiver-and-access-covid-19-medical-technologies (accessed 12 July 2021).

47 Margarita Grosheva, ‘Supreme Court Rejects Gilead’s Claim to Revoke Compulsory Remdesevir License’, Pharmvestnik (27 May 2021), https://pharmvestnik.ru/content/news/Verhovnyi-sud-otkazal-Gilead-v-iske-protiv-pravitelstva-po-povodu-prinuditelnoi-licenzii.html?fbclid=IwAR3mWlhWUoRkTHszU2qXVtWurlhfjowNcRKzWLmZcT_46VmXKovMbqZw80c (accessed 12 July 2021).

48 Knowledge Ecology International, ‘Hungarian Compulsory License for Remdesivir Raises a Stir with BIO, PhRMA and the US Chamber of Commerce’ (8 March 2021), https://www.keionline.org/35558 (accessed 20 July 2021).

49 UNGPs, note 22; Hunt Guidelines, note 22.

50 UNGPs, note 22, Principle 18 and commentary.

51 See, e.g., Thambisetty et al, note 25; Ghebreyesus, note 29; MSF Access Campaign, note 46.

52 UNGPs, note 22, Principle 21 and commentary.

53 Gavi et al, ‘COVAX Global Supply Forecast’ (23 June 2021), https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/covid/covax/COVAX%20Supply%20Forecast.pdf (accessed 20 July 2021); UNICEF, ‘COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard’, https://www.unicef.org/supply/covid-19-vaccine-market-dashboard (accessed 20 July 2021).

54 UNICEF, ‘Pricing Data’, https://www.unicef.org/supply/pricing-data (accessed 20 July 2021).

55 Anand Giridharadas, ‘Of Patents and Power: Doses are Charity. Knowledge is Justice’, The Ink (11 May 2021), https://the.ink/p/doses-are-charity-knowledge-is-justice (accessed 21 July 2021).

56 Clare Wenham et al, ‘Preparing for the Next Pandemic’ (2021) 373 British Medical Journal 1295, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1295 (accessed 15 July 2021).

57 WHO, ‘Special Session of the World Health Assembly to Consider Developing a WHO Convention, Agreement or Other International Instrument on Pandemic Preparedness and Response’, A74/A/CONF./7 (25 May 2021).

58 Sara Davis et al, ‘An International Pandemic Treaty Must Centre on Human Rights’ (20 May 2021), https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/05/10/an-international-pandemic-treaty-must-centre-on-human-rights/ (accessed 12 July 2021).

59 WHO, ‘WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19 – 15 July 2021’ (15 July 2021), https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19-15-july-2021 (accessed 15 July 2021); WHO, ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard’, https://covid19.who.int/ (accessed 15 July 2021).