Health as a trade issue: How the campaign for South African access brought the right to health to the WTO
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14288/cjur.v2i1.188656Keywords:
Transnational Advocacy Networks, international norms, HIV/AIDS, TRIPSAbstract
Transnational advocacy networks played a crucial role in the acceptance of the right to health as a trade concern that takes precedence over intellectual property (IP) protections. The development and influence of this norm is reflected in international responses to the 1998-2001 South African litigation over access to medicines. In the process of pressuring an army of pharmaceutical firms to back down from an unjust legal challenge, the transnational advocacy network surrounding access to AIDS medicines transformed the case from a largely trade-focused issue to a human rights issue. The right to health was thus brought to the world of international trade.
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