Pharmaceutical Patents, the Right to Health, and Constitutional Supremacy in Sub-Saharan Africa

2012 ◽  
pp. 199-237
Author(s):  
Poku Adusei
Keyword(s):  
Right To Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Pharmaceutical Patents ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right

scholarly journals COVID-19: Pandemic burden in Sub-Saharan Africa and the right to health – The need for advocacy in the face of growing privatisation

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tshegofatso J. Sehoole
Keyword(s):  
Disease Burden ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The People ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
The Face ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right

For Africa, the backdrop1 against which COVID-19 emerged is a stark one. Although sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 11% of the world’s population, it bears 24% of the global disease burden. The continent is home to 60% of the people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and over 90% of malarial patients. In this region, infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV cause 69% of deaths. As states respond to COVID-19, we need to keep our eyes open to what effective responses are notifying us about our healthcare systems, so that we can craft sustainable interventions as a result and uphold the right to health. This is especially true in the light of the ongoing nature of pandemics on the continent, making urgent the need to maximise the value of our health system and its resources, as we seek lasting transformation.

The Imperial – Emancipatory Paradox of International Human Rights: How Useful is the Right to Health in Sub-Saharan Africa?

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Wanjau Muriu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Care Services ◽  
International Human ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right

AbstractIn thinking of and formulating strategies for tackling the problem of access to good health care services in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is very tempting to look to the right to health as part of such strategies. However, given the genealogy and practices of the international human rights corpus, the question as to the value of utilising the right to health in such endeavours necessarily comes to the fore and demands investigation. Using the trajectory of the right to health, the paper analyses the usefulness or otherwise of international human rights in seeking solutions to problems relating to health in Sub-Saharan Africa. An argument is made that the right to health has low utility value despite the promises it makes. The paper concludes with the argument that an appreciation of the imperial-emancipatory paradox that is inherent in the corpus of international human rights not only enables one to expect less from the right to health but also opens up possibilities of crafting more productive strategies in the struggle to achieve the 'highest attainable standard of health' for the people of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Right to Political Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-161
Author(s):  
Christof Heyns ◽  
Charles Fombad ◽  
Pansy Tlakula ◽  
Jimmy Kainja
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
The People ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right

The effective realisation of the right to political participation is essential for the legitimacy of political systems and for enabling the people to shape, and assume responsibility for, their lives. Although the right to political participation is recognised in article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as in other international treaties, its realisation in practice is often partial, it depends on the extent to which numerous interrelated rights, such as those to freedom of expression, access to information and peaceful protest, have been secured. Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, this article examines the right to political participation as set out in national constitutions and in the instruments of the United Nations, the African Union and sub-regional bodies. It also considers the role of social media in this context. The article concludes by suggesting how this crucial right could be implemented more effectively in Africa.

scholarly journals Melanoma of the Right Foot Simulating Kaposi’s Disease

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
K. A. Kouassi ◽  
K. Kassi ◽  
K. Kouamé ◽  
M. A. Oussou ◽  
I. Kouassi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malignant Tumor ◽  
Clinical Presentation ◽  
Histopathological Examination ◽  
Partial Resection ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Visceral Metastasis ◽  
Atypical Clinical Presentation ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right ◽  
Lack Of Knowledge

Melanoma is a malignant tumor rarely being described in sub-Saharan Africa. We reported an unusual and atypical clinical presentation. It was a 59-year-old patient who was hospitalized for a monomelic black tumor evolving for 10 years. Histopathological examination confirmed the melanocytic origin of this tumor. Paraclinical assessment did not find any visceral metastasis. A partial resection of the tumor was performed. The patient left the hospital against medical consent due to lack of technical facilities. The delay in the consultation and the lack of knowledge of melanoma by doctors and patients might contribute to the severity and the difficulties of its management.

A New Era of Customary Property Rights? – Liberia’s Land and Forest Legislation in Light of the Indigenous Right to Self-Determination

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-462
Author(s):  
Ricarda Rösch
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Forest Legislation ◽  
Customary Land ◽  
The Right

After the end of Liberia’s civil war in 2003, the country embarked upon the reform of its forest and land legislation. This culminated in the adoption of the 2009 Community Rights Law with Respect to Forest Lands and the 2018 Land Rights Act, which NGOs and donors have described as being amongst the most progressive laws in sub-Saharan Africa with regard to the recognition of customary land tenure. Given these actors commitment to human rights, this article takes the indigenous right to self-determination as a starting point for analysing customary property rights and their implementation in Liberia. This includes the examination of the Liberian concept of the 1) recognition and nature of customary land rights, 2) customary ownership of natural resources, 3) jurisdiction over customary land, 4) the prohibition of forcible removal, and 5) the right to free, prior and informed consent.

Special Economic Zones in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 1007-1023
Author(s):  
Douglas Zhihua Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Industrial Transfer ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right ◽  
Economic Zones

SEZs can be an effective catalyst for industrialization and structural transformation for developing countries if implemented properly in the right context. However, the performance of SEZs is mixed globally, with East Asia outperforming other regions in general. In sub-Saharan Africa, with the rapid industrial transfer wave of recent years and inspiration from the East Asian success, countries have shown renewed interest in this policy instrument. This chapter provides an overview and an in-depth analysis of Africa’s SEZ experiences through thirteen case examples, identifies the key drivers of SEZs’ success, and draws useful lessons which can be applicable to other developing countries.

Third World Resistance to International Economic and Structural Constraints: Assessing the Utility of the Right to Health in the Context of the TRIPS Agreement

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-429
Author(s):  
Daniel Wanjau Muriu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Economic ◽  
Third World ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Trips Agreement ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Parallel Importation ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between WTO's TRIPS Agreement, patents and access to affordable medicines in Sub-Saharan Africa. The key role played by transnational corporations (TNCs) in ensuring that intellectual property rights were included in multilateral trade negotiations, and how this influence and power of TNCs has impacted on access to affordable medicine in the region is highlighted. The way in which social movements at both domestic and international levels have sought to use the right to health to resist the power of pharmaceutical TNCs bent on blocking the use by Third World countries of the exceptions or flexibilities in TRIPS, such as parallel importation of medicines and compulsory licensing is analysed. In this connection, the way in which the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC, a social movement in South Africa), used the right to health to oppose a suit filed in South Africa by pharmaceutical TNCs seeking to block legislation enacted for the purpose of enabling parallel importation of medicines, is shown. The article also explains how a network of international organisations and activists in collaboration with Third World countries pushed for the adoption of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health on the basis that access to affordable medicines is a critical element of the right to health. The article argues that the right to health has some limited potential of being used as a means of resistance against international economic forces inimical to the health of Third World peoples. To realise such potential however, one must go beyond using the right to health purely as a legal process or mechanism and instead harness the right as a tool to mobilize and exercise agency of Third World peoples in contesting the power of those forces.

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