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Decolonising human rights : how intellectual property laws result in unequal access to the COVID-19 vaccine
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Sekalala, Sharifah, Forman, Lisa, Hodgson, Timothy, Mulumba, Moses, Namyalo-Ganafa, Hadijah and Meier, Benjamin Mason (2021) Decolonising human rights : how intellectual property laws result in unequal access to the COVID-19 vaccine. BMJ Global Health, 6 (7). e006169. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006169 ISSN 2059-7908.
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WRAP-decolonising-human-rights-how-intellectual-property-laws-result-unequal-access-COVID-19-vaccine-Sekalala-2021.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0. Download (347Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006169
Abstract
The recent rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines offers hope in addressing the worst pandemic in a hundred years. However, many countries in the Global South face great difficulties in accessing vaccines, partly because of restrictive intellectual property law. These laws exacerbate both global and domestic inequalities and prevent countries from fully realising the right to health for all their people. Commodification of essential medicines, such as vaccines, pushes poorer countries into extreme debt and reproduces national inequalities that discriminate against marginalised groups. This article explains how a decolonial framing of human rights and public health could contribute to addressing this systemic injustice. We envisage a human rights and global health law framework based on solidarity and international cooperation that focuses funding on long-term goals and frees access to medicines from the restrictions of intellectual property law. This would increase domestic vaccine production, acquisition and distribution capabilities in the Global South.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JC Political theory K Law [Moys] > KA Jurisprudence K Law [Moys] > KC International Law K Law [Moys] > KN Common Law, Private Law R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law | ||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | COVID-19 (Disease) , COVID-19 (Disease) -- Vaccination -- Law and legislation , Intellectual property , Intellectual property (International law), Human rights, Intellectual property -- International cooperation, Right to health | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | BMJ Global Health | ||||||
| Publisher: | BMJ Publishing Group | ||||||
| ISSN: | 2059-7908 | ||||||
| Official Date: | 12 July 2021 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 6 | ||||||
| Number: | 7 | ||||||
| Article Number: | e006169 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006169 | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 13 December 2021 | ||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 13 December 2021 | ||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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