Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 9.1
Legal Instruments on the Right to Health
Government obligations: domestic
Government obligations: international
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, article 25(1)
International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, article 12
Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against
Women, article 12
Convention on the Rights of
the Child, article 24(1-3)
Declaration of Alma-Ata, article II
UN Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights E/C.12/2000/4,
General Comment No.14
Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6
Convention on the Rights of the Child,
article 24(4)
every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind,
shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms
and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and
effective recognition and observance (UN
1948
).
States are the primary duty bearers for respecting, promoting and fulfilling
the human right to health, but it is also important for every individual and organ
of society to strive towards improvements (Schroeder
2011
). One key measure
is the commitment to universal health insurance that includes necessary medi-
cines (WHO
2012a
). However, universal health insurance does not solve the
problem of ensuring either the availability of or access to health care: there
needs to be a commitment to adequate financing of the insurance and health
systems.
6
Also, insurance can create a special problem in the realm of innovative phar-
maceuticals. If all patients are insured, and there is adequate financing of the sys-
tem, then any supplier with a monopoly will have an incentive to increase prices.
Therefore insurance can aggravate the exercise of market power. At the same time,
where there is no universal insurance, monopolist providers may have incentives
to price high in order to maximize their profits from a small number of wealthy
patients, leaving poorer patients without any access to the drug at all. In either sit-
uation, it is clear that there is a need for an appropriate mechanism for ensuring
wide access to the drug, while also providing revenues adequate to support innova-
tion for the future.
In the remainder of this chapter, we shall discuss one specific reform plan, the
Health Impact Fund (HIF), as an example of a visionary idea which would help
fulfil the human right to health globally by addressing these complex problems of
supporting innovation, availability, and access to new medicines.
6
Insurance may be universal with respect to the population, but cover a very limited range of
services.
