International Human Rights and Access to Medicines

Abstract

The issue of access to medicines has been widely discussed under the international human rights law regarding patients without medicines. Through critical analysis of relevant documentary material of the international human rights law, this thesis examines the status of access to medicines as a human right. To explore the status of access to medicines as a human right, this study examines the available sources of international human rights law. Benefiting from the indivisibility of human rights, the study presents the scope of interpreting access to medicines as a human right under the right to life and health. The thesis argues for the status of access to medicines as a human right instead of considering it a mere ethical or moral demand. The recent outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is not only a test for human advancement in medical sciences but is also a reality-check for human rights in general and access to medicines in particular. The study systematically argues that treating the issue of access to medicines as an ethical or moral demand, instead of treating it as a human right, has affected the response to pandemics and epidemics. The Access to Medicines Index Report 2018 concludes that almost 2 billion people face several issues accessing the required medicines. The deprivation causes pain, fear, and violation of human right to life and health. To establish access to medicines as a human right, it is imperative to develop the human rights framework for access to medicines under the international human rights law. The arguments will progressively analyse the status of access to medicines as a human right. For developing the human rights framework, the study will analyse the norm-creation process of the international human rights law, the status of access to medicines as a legal norm, the obligations of state parties, limitations to recognise and enforce access to medicines as a legal norm, and the ways to elevate the standing of access to medicines as a human right.