Academic Scientific JournalsThe Right to Health and Intellectual Property Rights in the Context of the Proposal for a World Health Organization Pandemic Treaty
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/gsp.2025.1.02Keywords:
COVID-19, WHO, intellectual property rights, human rights, right to health, pandemic treatyAbstract
The struggle against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic proved to be the most serious global health, economic, and social policy challenge since the Second World War. A key means of combating the pandemic has proved to be new vaccines, the supply of which, however, has been directed primarily to the wealthiest countries. At the same time, the resulting delays and difficulties in access to medicines in developing and least developed countries has exposed significant weaknesses in the global health system in terms of the degree of preparedness and international cooperation in the fight against this new threat. Consequently, work has begun under the auspices of WHO on a draft international agreement to define principles for preventing and responding to future pandemic threats, commonly referred to as a pandemic treaty. One of the key areas addressed by this agreement is the sphere of intellectual property protection and the possibilities for its limitation in the event of future pandemics. To justify these, the draft treaty refers to the respect of human rights and the enjoyment of the highest attainable level of health.
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