In 2013, after twenty years of debate, an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights came into operation, enabling the international justiciability of this Covenant’s rights for the first time. Under this mechanism, individuals within ratifying...

In his recent commentary, Gorik Ooms argues that “denying that researchers, like all humans, have personal opinions … drives researchers' personal opinion underground, turning global health science into unconscious dogmatism or stealth advocacy, avoiding the crucial debate about the politics...

While the right to health is increasingly referenced in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) discussions, its contribution to global health and development remains subject to considerable debate. This hypothesis explores the potential influence of the right to health on the formulation of health...

This paper explores methods of achieving linkage in international law between the human right to health and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) ). It explores the relevance to this question of international law’s...

Current international trade rules such as the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) may restrict domestic policy options to increase access to affordable medicines. This impact is amplified in bilateral and regional free trade agreements containing...

This paper explores the legal and normative potential of the right to health to mitigate the restrictive impact of trade-related intellectual property rules on access to medicines, as evidenced by the global outcomes of the seminal pharmaceutical company litigation in South Africa in 2001. I...

If the 2010 Canadian Public Health Association conference is a bellwether of mainstream Canadian public and global health practice, its dearth of human rights papers suggests that, outside a small scholarly cohort, human rights remain marginal therein. This potential ‘rights gap’ conflicts...

This article explores the development of methodologies for human rights and right to health-specific impact assessment (RTHIA) of trade-related intellectual property rights. These methodologies seek to respond to the restrictive impact of international and bilateral trade rules on domestic and...

In recent years, there has been growing concern about the negative impact on access to affordable medicines of international trade rules, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and bilateral and regional free trade...

The fields of human rights and public health ethics are each concerned with promoting health and elucidating norms for action. To date, however, little has been written about the contribution that these two justificatory frameworks can make together. This article explores how a combined approach...