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Health and Development in Africa: How Far Can the Human Rights Jurisprudence Go?

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Nigerian Yearbook of International Law 2018/2019

Part of the book series: Nigerian Yearbook of International Law ((NYBIL,volume 2018/2019))

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Abstract

Poor health can have adverse impact on economic growth and development and the link between health and development has been well accentuated. This paper discusses the international framework for the protection of health rights. The paper argues that beyond the health and development rhetoric, there is a compelling need for African states to devise strategies for the progressive actualisation of health and development rights through the adoption of administrative and judicial measures for the realisation of such rights.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gostin and Friedman (2013), p. 4.

  2. 2.

    Ibid.

  3. 3.

    Ibid 5.

  4. 4.

    WHO, Children: Reducing Mortality, WHO Media Centre Fact Sheet January 2016 available at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs178/en/.

  5. 5.

    WHO, Global Health Observatory (GHO) data: Maternal mortality available at http://www.who.int/gho/maternal_health/mortality/maternal_mortality_text/en/.

  6. 6.

    Iacopino et al. (2011), pp. 149 and 175.

  7. 7.

    Gostin and Friedman (2013), p. 11.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    WHO (2015), p. x.

  10. 10.

    Ibid.

  11. 11.

    Kwakwa (2012), pp. 221 and 222.

  12. 12.

    Ibid 224.

  13. 13.

    World Intellectual Property Organization, Proposal by Argentina and Brazil for the Establishment of a Development Agenda for WIPO, WIPO Doc. WO/GA/31/11 (Aug. 27, 2004); WIPO Development Agenda: Background (2004–2007).

  14. 14.

    Kwakwa (2009), p. 1.

  15. 15.

    Qureshi (2009), p. 173.

  16. 16.

    See WTO, Trade and Development, available at https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/devel_e.htm.

  17. 17.

    WTO, Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, WT/MIN(05)/DEC adopted 18 December 2015 https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min05_e/final_text_e.htm.

  18. 18.

    See UN-OHRLLS, ‘About LDC’s’ available at http://unohrlls.org/about-ldcs/.

  19. 19.

    See Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, opened for signature April 15, 1994, 1867 U.N.T.S. 3 (entered into force January 1, 1995), Annex 1C (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) (TRIPS) Art. 66.

  20. 20.

    See OECD, DAC List of ODA Recipients, available at http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/daclist.htm.

  21. 21.

    See Kwakwa (2012), p. 228.

  22. 22.

    Amorim (2000), p. 95.

  23. 23.

    Kwakwa (2012), p. 228.

  24. 24.

    See Matsushita et al. (2006), pp. 782–784.

  25. 25.

    Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, WTO Doc WT/L/540 (September 2) (Decision of August 30, 2003).

  26. 26.

    See WTO, Work on Special and Differential Provisions, World Trade Org., http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/dev_special_differential_provisions_e.htm.

  27. 27.

    See WHO, Newborns: Reducing mortality, Media Centre Fact Sheet, January 2016 available at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs333/en/; WHO, HIV/AIDS, available at http://www.who.int/immunization/topics/hiv/en/index1.html; WHO, World Malaria Report 2015, p. x.

  28. 28.

    See Gostin and Friedman (2013), p. 10.

  29. 29.

    George (2011), pp. 167 and 171.

  30. 30.

    George (2011), p. 171; Novogrodsky (2014), pp. 643 and 646–651.

  31. 31.

    Iacopino et al. (2011), p. 150.

  32. 32.

    Constitution of the World Health Organization, adopted 22 July 1946, entered into force 7 April 1948 available at http://apps.who.int/gb/bd/PDF/bd47/EN/constitution-en.pdf?ua=1.

  33. 33.

    Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res 217A (III), UN Doc A/810 (10 December 1948), Art 25.

  34. 34.

    Castleberry (2015), p. 189.

  35. 35.

    See Hart (1958), pp. 593 and 603 available at http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~horty/courses/readings/hart-1958-positivism-separation.pdf.

  36. 36.

    International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976).

  37. 37.

    International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), opened for signature 16 December 1966, 993 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 January 1976).

  38. 38.

    ICESCR, Art. 12.2.

  39. 39.

    See Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMM’R ON HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR), http://indicators.ohchr.org/.

  40. 40.

    See Borelli (2009), p. 1.

  41. 41.

    Iacopino et al. (2011), p. 162.

  42. 42.

    Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, The Right to Health, factsheet No. 31 (June 2008) p. 5 http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Factsheet31.pdf.

  43. 43.

    Abacha v Fawehinmi [2000] Nigerian Weekly Law Report, part 660.

  44. 44.

    Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, The Right to Health, factsheet No. 31 (June 2008) pp. 3–4 http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Factsheet31.pdf.

  45. 45.

    Ibid 5.

  46. 46.

    Ibid.

  47. 47.

    Ibid 25.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Ibid 26.

  50. 50.

    Ibid 27.

  51. 51.

    ICCPR Art 6.1.

  52. 52.

    See generally Keener and Vasquez (2009), p. 595 at 599; see also Owoeye (2014), pp. 900–919.

  53. 53.

    Castleberry (2015), p. 232.

  54. 54.

    Gostin and Friedman (2013), p. 35.

  55. 55.

    Ooms and Van Damme (2008), p. 893; Ooms et al. (2010), p. 17 available at http://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-8603-6-17.

  56. 56.

    Gostin and Friedman (2013), p. 34.

  57. 57.

    Ibid 35.

  58. 58.

    World Conference on Human Rights, June 14–25, 1993, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, P 1, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.157/24 (June 19, 1993), available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/Vienna.aspx.

  59. 59.

    Castleberry (2015), p. 189.

  60. 60.

    Mattar (2013), p. 91.

  61. 61.

    Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted June 10, 1998, entered into force January 25, 2004.

  62. 62.

    See Muller (2014), pp. 415 and 416.

  63. 63.

    Ibid 431.

  64. 64.

    Ibid.

  65. 65.

    See CESCR, General Comment 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 (Aug. 11, 2000) PP 12(a), 36.

  66. 66.

    CESCR, General Comment 14, ibid, P 36.

  67. 67.

    The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health on His Visit to Tajikistan, P 27, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/23/41/Add.1 (May 2, 2013); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health on His Visit to India, PP 48, 52, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/14/20/Add.2 (April 15, 2010); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health on His Visit to Ghana, PP 37, 39, 61(d), U.N. Doc. A/HRC/20/15/Add.1 (April 10, 2012); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health on His Visit to Guatemala, P 88(f), U.N. Doc. A/HRC/17/25/Add.2 (March 16, 2011).

  68. 68.

    CESCR, General Comment 14, PP 43(f) and 53–56.

  69. 69.

    Paul Hunt, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, (2008 UN Doc A/HRC/7/11) available at http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/human_rights/A_HRC_7_11.pdf.

  70. 70.

    Kapczynski et al. (2005), pp. 1031 and 1043–1044.

  71. 71.

    Wisser (2012), pp. 261 and 262.

  72. 72.

    See Doha Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, WT/MIN(01)/Dec/2 (November 20, 2001) (Adopted November 14, 2001) PP.4-5 (Doha Declaration).

  73. 73.

    Kapczynski et al. (2005), pp. 1059–1060.

  74. 74.

    Outterson (2005), pp. 193 and 225.

  75. 75.

    See Brazil — Measures Affecting Patent Protection, DS 199 available at https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds199_e.htm.

  76. 76.

    Kevin Outterson, Disease-Based Limitations on Compulsory Licenses Under Articles 31 and 31bis 1-2 (Boston University School of Law Working Paper No. 09-26, 2009).

  77. 77.

    USTR 2015 Special 301 Rep. 1 (2015).

  78. 78.

    See generally USTR 2015 Special 301 Rep. 1 (2015).

  79. 79.

    Ibid.

  80. 80.

    Ibid p. 74.

  81. 81.

    Ibid.

  82. 82.

    See Article 23.1 of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding.

  83. 83.

    USTR 2017 Special 301 Rep. 42.

  84. 84.

    Quick (2003), pp. 1 and 2.

  85. 85.

    Wisser (2012), p. 288.

  86. 86.

    See generally Collier (2008), pp. 9 and 11–14.

  87. 87.

    Farag et al. (2009), pp. 1045 and 1049–1051.

  88. 88.

    See WHO, Countries, available at http://www.who.int/countries/en/.

  89. 89.

    See generally Burci and Vignes (2004), pp. 35–44.

  90. 90.

    Sridhar and Gostin (2011), pp. 1585 and 1585–1586.

  91. 91.

    WHO, Assessed Contribution Status Report as at 31 July 1983 available at http://www.who.int/about/finances-accountability/funding/AC_Status_Report_2017.pdf?ua=1.

  92. 92.

    Ibid.

  93. 93.

    WHO, About WHO: Voluntary Contributions, available at http://www.who.int/about/finances-accountability/funding/voluntary-contributions/en/.

  94. 94.

    See World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/what-we-do/brief/ibrd.

  95. 95.

    See World Bank, Voting Powers, available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/leadership/VotingPowers.

  96. 96.

    Paul Ladd, Options for Democratising the World Bank and the IMF (Southern African Regional Poverty Network May 2003) 4–6 available at http://www.sarpn.org/documents/d0000527/Ladd_WB_IMF.pdf.

  97. 97.

    See, World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Subscriptions and Voting Power of Member Countries available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/BODINT/Resources/278027-1215524804501/IBRDCountryVotingTable.pdf.

  98. 98.

    Ladd, above n 96 at 4–6.

  99. 99.

    Frey (2015), pp. 419 and 420.

  100. 100.

    Kieny (2014) available at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/commentaries/health-systems-ebola/en/.

  101. 101.

    Ibid.

  102. 102.

    Ibid.

  103. 103.

    UN, Millennium Development Goals Report 2015 p. 6 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf.

  104. 104.

    Ibid.

  105. 105.

    Ibid.

  106. 106.

    Ibid.

  107. 107.

    Ibid.

  108. 108.

    Ibid.

  109. 109.

    Ibid.

  110. 110.

    United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and others, Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2014 (2014), p. 1.

  111. 111.

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (2015) UN Doc A/70/213. P1 http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/238/25/PDF/N1523825.pdf?OpenElement.

  112. 112.

    Ibid P 3.

  113. 113.

    World Health Org., The World Health Report 2013 (WHO, 2013) 22 available at http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85761/2/9789240690837_eng.pdf?ua=1.

  114. 114.

    UN General Assembly, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Resolution No. A/RES/70/1 http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.

  115. 115.

    Frey (2015), p. 429.

  116. 116.

    Ibid.

  117. 117.

    Light (2003), p. 25.

  118. 118.

    Ibid 430.

  119. 119.

    David Stuckler et al., Background Paper for the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research: The Political Economy of Universal Health Coverage 2 (Nov. 16–19, 2010).

  120. 120.

    Marten et al. (2014), pp. 2164 and 2165.

  121. 121.

    UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda, Health in the post-2015 UN development agenda (2012) p 4 available at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/8_health.pdf.

  122. 122.

    ibid 4–5.

  123. 123.

    Ibid 5.

  124. 124.

    Ibid 5.

  125. 125.

    Anand Grover, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, (2011) UN Doc A/HRC/17/25 p. 3 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A-HRC-17-25.pdf.

  126. 126.

    Jocelyn E. Finlay, The Role of Health in Economic Development, PGDA Working Papers 2107, Program on the Global Demography of Aging, 2007.

  127. 127.

    Grover above n 125 at p. 4.

  128. 128.

    Ibid.

  129. 129.

    Sen (1999), p. 3.

  130. 130.

    Grover, above n 125 at p. 4.

  131. 131.

    Ibid 5.

  132. 132.

    UNDP, Human Development Report 1990 (UNDP, 1990) p. 1 available at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf.

  133. 133.

    UN Declaration on the Right to Development, GA Res 41/128, 97th plen mtg, UN Doc A/RES/.

  134. 134.

    A/CONF.157/23.

  135. 135.

    Oduwole (2014), p. 6 available at http://www.iss.nl/fileadmin/ASSETS/iss/Documents/Academic_publications/PCC_Inaugural_Lecture_20May2014.pdf.

  136. 136.

    Ibid.

  137. 137.

    UN Declaration on the Right to Development Article 10.

  138. 138.

    See above n 43.

  139. 139.

    See UN-OHRLLS, ‘About LDC’s’ available at http://unohrlls.org/about-ldcs/.

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  1. School of Business and Law, CQUniversity, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Olasupo Owoeye

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  1. International Criminal Court, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Chile Eboe-Osuji

  2. School of Law, Faculty of Management and Law, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

    Engobo Emeseh

  3. Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

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Owoeye, O. (2021). Health and Development in Africa: How Far Can the Human Rights Jurisprudence Go?. In: Eboe-Osuji, C., Emeseh, E., Akinkugbe, O.D. (eds) Nigerian Yearbook of International Law 2018/2019. Nigerian Yearbook of International Law , vol 2018/2019. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69594-1_13

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