A Needle in a Haystack? Human Rights Framing at the World Trade Organization for Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

Volume 24/2, December 2022, pp. 141-157 |  PDF Katrina Perehudoff, Heba Qazilbash, and Kai Figueras de Vries Abstract How and why is implicit and explicit human rights language used by World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators in debates about intellectual property, know-how, and technology needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, and how do these findings compare with negotiators’ human rights framing in 2001? Sampling 26 WTO members and two groups of members,…

EDITORIAL Interrogating the Role of Human Rights in Remedying Global Inequities in Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

Volume 24/2, December 2022, pp. 121-124 |  PDF Lisa Forman, Carlos Correa, and Katrina Perehudoff Introduction Access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines is central to controlling the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is also an essential element of advancing universal health coverage under the Sustainable Development Goals, and it is essential to realizing a range of human rights related to health. Yet disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines in low…

The Role of Civil Society in Mobilizing Human Rights Struggles for Essential Medicines: A Critique from HIV/AIDS to COVID-19

Volume 24/2, December 2022, pp. 177-189 |  PDF Sharifah Sekalala and Belinda Rawson Abstract In this paper, we explore the strategies utilized by civil society organizations to improve access to medicines during the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 health crises. In particular, we seek to illuminate why some of the successful approaches for increasing access to antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS in the early 2000s failed in creating equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines.…

PERSPECTIVE Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination: Lessons from Tuberculosis and HIV

Volume 24/1, June 2022, pp. 85-91 |  PDF Lynette Mtimkulu-Eyde, Justin Denholm, Apurva Narain, Razia Fatima, Karuna D. Sagili, Rubeshan Perumal, and Nesri Padayatchi There is little doubt that vaccines represent one of the most significant medical advancements in human history, eradicating smallpox and averting millions of deaths from infectious diseases annually.1 Nevertheless, they are currently undermined by the convergence of three pandemics: COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy, and internet-facilitated misinformation. This…

A Human Rights Framework for Advancing the Standard of Medical Care for Incarcerated People in the United States in the Time of COVID-19

Volume 24/1, June 2022, pp. 59-75 |  PDF Brendan Saloner, Gabriel B. Eber, Carolyn B. Sufrin, Chris Beyrer, and Leonard S. Rubenstein Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the lack of resources and oversight that hinders medical care for incarcerated people in the United States. The US Supreme Court has held that “deliberate indifference” to “serious medical needs” violates the Constitution. But this legal standard does not assure the consistent…

Forgotten Behind Bars: COVID-19 and Palestinian Prisoners Detained in Israel

Yazid Barhoush On March 25th, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, called for governments to “not forget those behind bars” and “act quickly to reduce the number of people in detention”.[1] She urged governments and authorities to reduce the number of people in detention and explicitly called on governments to release individuals detained without sufficient legal basis. In April, the Center for…

PERSPECTIVE Emerging from COVID-19: A New, Rights-Based Relationship with the Nonhuman World?

Volume 23/2, December 2021, pp. 13-20  |  PDF Mia Macdonald Abstract This essay argues that the global response to COVID-19 should lead to new thinking and action, and specifically, a new relationship with the nonhuman world that is centered on mutuality and respect, not commodification and exploitation. Such a response would acknowledge and embed concepts like ecological justice and One Welfare in policy and practice, particularly regarding the consequences of…

One Health, COVID-19, and a Right to Health for Human and Nonhuman Animals

Volume 23/2, December 2021, pp. 35-47  |  PDF Kimberly Bernotas, Laurie Sellars, and Jeff Sebo Abstract COVID-19 is a reminder that human, nonhuman, and environmental health are linked, and so efforts to improve human, nonhuman, and environmental health should be linked as well. But current efforts to link these issues fall short by not doing enough for humans, not doing enough for nonhumans, and focusing narrowly on health instead of…

Ensuring Rights while Protecting Health: The Importance of Using a Human Rights Approach in Implementing Public Health Responses to COVID-19

Volume 23/2, December 2021, pp. 173-186  |  PDF Sophia A. Zweig,* Alexander J. Zapf,* Chris Beyrer, Debarati Guha-Sapir, and Rohini J. Haar Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have implemented public health policies that limit individual freedoms in order to control disease transmission. While such limitations on liberties are sometimes necessary for pandemic control, many of these policies have been overly broad or have neglected…

STUDENT ESSAY: Is Compulsory COVID-19 Vaccination a Violation of Human Rights?

Aaron Chia In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Government passed the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA), which implemented a number of emergency powers, allowing public officials to take action in specific situations in order to contain and slow down the spread of the virus as well as ease the burden on frontline staff.[1] Examples of these emergency powers include: the capability for public officials to test, isolate, and detain…