Publication Topic : Access to Medicines

UN High-Level Panel Says Trade Agreements Such As TPP Threaten Public Health AND Human Rights

A high-level body of eminent persons advising UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released its report today declaring that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and similar agreements ratcheting up intellectual property protection and enforcement, endanger countries’ efforts to ensure access to medicines and other health technologies and run counter to their human rights obligations. The High-Level Panel’s report … Read more

A Prescription for Coherence?: UN Secretary-General to release report of High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines addressing tension between health and intellectual property rules

By Richard Elliott, Executive Director, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network September 13, 2016 Later this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to release at the UN in New York the much-anticipated, and already controversial, report of his High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines. The Secretary-General appointed his High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines in November … Read more

International Assistance Review: an opportunity for Canada to stand up for human rights abroad

When International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau took up her post in November 2015, she was tasked with leading Canada’s efforts to “provide humanitarian assistance to help reduce poverty and inequality in the world” and refocusing Canada’s development assistance “on helping the poorest and most vulnerable.” This renewed focus on marginalized communities must underlie the current … Read more

Submission to Global Affairs Canada: Human Rights Priorities for Canadian International Assistance

“The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network welcomes this opportunity to provide our perspectives on the government’s priorities for establishing an international assistance policy and funding framework. When International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau took up her post in November 2015, she was tasked with leading Canada’s efforts to ‘provide humanitarian assistance to help reduce poverty and inequality in the world’ and … Read more

Don’t Trade Away Health: An Open Letter to the North American Leaders’ Summit

“As civil society organizations concerned about access to medicines, in your three countries and globally, we write to you in advance of your North American Leaders’ Summit in Ottawa on June 29.  The summit is an important opportunity to demonstrate human rights leadership—nationally, regionally and globally—in the Americas. “In February of this year, the United … Read more

Canada’s New Government Must Take Action on HIV

Toronto, November 30, 2015 — In a briefing paper released to parliamentarians in advance of World AIDS Day (December 1), the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network is calling on the new federal government to take decisive steps to address the HIV epidemic, both in Canada and abroad. Laying out five key areas and recommending associated actions, … Read more

Fears Confirmed: Access to medicines and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

November 13, 2015 Last week, the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement was finally made public. Running to more than 6000 pages, it raises a host of grave concerns about its impact on everything from environmental protection to labour and other human rights, from internet privacy to food safety… and much more, including access … Read more

Letter to Prime Minister and Ministers of International Trade, Health, and International Development re: Access to medicines and the Trans‐Pacific Partnership

“We write to you as Canadian civil society organizations concerned about access to medicines, in Canada and globally. A number of us are members of the Global Treatment Access Group (GTAG), a working group bringing together various Canadian organizations advocating for greater access to medicines, and other aspects of the human right to the highest attainable standard of health, in … Read more