The Implications of TRIPS: Ethics, health and human rights

Abstract

It is only recently that discussion on intellectual property is being addressed within the framework of human rights. Yet, the human right to the protection of intellectual property dates back 50 years to the basic human rights text - the Declaration on Human Rights of 1948. The right was included in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under Article 15. Only yesterday, the monitoring committee of the Covenant began to examine that article, as a means of exploring the human rights dimensions of the protection of intellectual property. I have been asked to speak about the human rights implications of the intellectual property protection over pharmaceuticals. In doing so, I will focus on the question of accessing HIV treatments. I wish to pose three questions. - Why is accessing HIV treatments a human rights issue? - What is a human rights approach to intellectual property protection? - Is intellectual property protection, as required by the TRIPS Agreement, consistent with the obligations of states under human rights law?