The Obligations of Governments and Big Pharma Regarding Equitable Vaccine Supply

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/10092

Keywords:

COVID-19, global justice, Big Pharma, vaccine equity, positive obligations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc the world over, simultaneously creating opportunities for some, including ‘Big Pharma.’ Governments continue to have the obligation for managing the pandemic, and many governments delegated the responsibility for vaccine supply to Big Pharma. Developed countries generously funded vaccine development, while reserving the first option to purchase the vaccines for themselves, thus being accused of vaccine hoarding. Concurrently, Big Pharma has disclaimed liability for any side effects caused by the virus, and any obligation to share its vaccine intellectual property. This left most of the world, particularly the Global South, in a precarious position regarding vaccine supply. This article discusses the obligations of governments to their own people and to the rest of the world and the obligations of Big Pharma, specifically regarding equitable vaccine supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. To articulate its arguments for vaccine equity, the author relies primarily on the right to dignity and attempts to balance this right against the seemingly conflicting interests of the Global North. The vaccine equity issue is an intersectional issue perpetuated by systemic inequalities affected by a myriad of factors including historical power imbalances. It is argued that all parties need to act to overcome the pandemic, especially states and companies in the Global North. This would be consistent with international policy and legal environment and the requirements of global justice.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Albertyn C, ‘Contested Substantive Equality in the South African Constitution: Beyond Social Inclusion towards Systemic Justice’ (2018) 34 South African Journal on Human Rights <https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2018.1550938> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2018.1550938

Albertyn C and Fredman S, ‘Equality Beyond Dignity: Multi-Dimensional Equality and Justice Langa’s Judgments’ (2015) 2015 Acta Juridica.

Allison S, ‘Bill Gates, Big Pharma and Entrenching the Vaccine Apartheid’ The Mail & Guardian (30 January 2021) <https://mg.co.za/health/2021-01-30-bill-gates-big-pharma-and-entrenching-the-vaccine-apartheid/> accessed 1 April 2022.

Arnold DG and Bowie NE, Ethical Theory and Business (Cambridge University Press 2019) <https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108386128> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108386128

‘Big Pharma’ <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/big-pharma> accessed 1 April 2022.

‘Big Pharma Is Not Willing to Help Us Defeat COVID-19 | Coronavirus Pandemic' Al Jazeera <https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/10/18/big-pharma-is-not-going-to-help-the-world-defeat-covid-19> accessed 1 April 2022.

Bilchitz D, ‘A Chasm between “Is” and “Ought”? A Critique of the Normative Foundations of the SRSG’s Framework and the Guiding Principles’ (2013) 107 Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect <https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139568333.009> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139568333.009

Bilchitz D, ‘Do Corporations Have Positive Fundamental Rights Obligations?’ (2010) Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2010.5712502

Bilchitz D, Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect (Cambridge University Press 2013).

Bowleg L, ‘We’re Not All in This Together: On COVID-19, Intersectionality, and Structural Inequality’ (2020) 110 American journal of public health <https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305766> DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305766

Bravo G, ‘From Paris Convention to TRIPS: A Brief History’ (2001) 12 J Contemp Legal Issues.

Chaskalson A, ‘Human Dignity as a Foundational Value of Our Constitutional Order’ (2000) 16 South African Journal on Human Rights <https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2000.11827594> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2000.11827594

Chirwa DM, ‘In Search of Philosophical Justifications and Suitable Models for the Horizontal Application of Human Rights’ (2008) 8 African Human Rights Law Journal.

‘COVID-19: India Coronavirus Cases Soar Past 20 Million with Health System on Brink of Collapse’ Sky News (4 May 2021) <https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-india-coronavirus-cases-soar-past-20-million-with-health-system-on-brink-of-collapse-12294499> accessed 1 April 2022.

European Commission, ‘Advance Purchase Agreement (“APA”) For the Production, Purchase and Supply of A Covid-19 Vaccine in the European Union’ <https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/eu_apa_-_executed_-_az_redactions.pdf>.

Finnis J, ‘Equality and Differences’ (2011) 56 Am J Juris 17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajj/56.1.17

Friedman M, ‘13. September 1970, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”’ (1970) 3 New York Times Magazine.

Hobbes T, Hobbes’s Leviathan (Oxford 1967).

Hsieh N, ‘The Obligations of Transnational Corporations: Rawlsian Justice and the Duty of Assistance’ (2004) 14 Business Ethics Quarterly <https://doi.org/10.5840/beq200414437> DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/beq200414437

Human Rights Council, ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy: A Framework for Business and Human Rights’ <https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/files/reports-and-materials/Ruggie-protect-respect-remedy-framework.pdf> accessed 30 March 2022.

Human Rights Council, ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework’ <https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/publications-and-resources> accessed 30 March 2022.

Karim AA and Van Dyk J, ‘How South Africa’s COVID Vaccine Injury Fund Will Work’ (Bhekisisa, 20 April 2021) <https://bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2021-04-20-how-sas-covid-vaccine-injury-fund-will-work/> accessed 1 April 2022.

Koller P, ‘On the Concept of Global Justice’, Absolute Poverty and Global Justice (Routledge 2016).

Lateef F, Tay C and Nimbkar N, ‘Is There a Doctor On-Board?: Medical Liability during in-Flight Emergencies’ (2003) 10 Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine <https://doi.org/10.1177/102490790301000310> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/102490790301000310

Liebenberg S, ‘The Value of Human Dignity in Interpreting Socio-Economic Rights’ (2005) 21 South African Journal on Human Rights <https://doi.org/10.1080/19962126.2005.11865126> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19962126.2005.11865126

Locke J, Locke: Two Treatises of Government (Cambridge University Press 1967).

Makoni M, ‘Tanzania Refuses COVID-19 Vaccines’ (2021) 397 The Lancet <https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00362-7> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00362-7

McConnachie C, ‘Human Dignity,‘Unfair Discrimination’and Guidance’ (2014) 34 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqu002> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqu002

Moellendorf D, ‘Absolute Poverty and Global Inequality’, Absolute Poverty and Global Justice (Routledge 2016).

Morse J, ‘The Missing Link between Virtue Theory and Business Ethics’ (1999) 16 Journal of Applied Philosophy <https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5930.0010> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5930.00107

Nozick R, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, vol 5038 (New York, Basic Books 1974).

Ohiorhenuan JF, ‘Don’t Cry for Me Africa: Preamble of a Memo to the African Prince’ (2009) 102 Transition <https://doi.org/10.2979/trs.2010.-.102.140> DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/trs.2010.-.102.140

Pieterse M, ‘Enforcing the Right Not to Be Refused Emergency Medical Treatment: Towards Appropriate Relief’ (2007) 18 Stellenbosch Law Review.

Rawls J, The Law of Peoples (Harvard University Press).

Reuters, ‘World Has Entered Stage of “Vaccine Apartheid” - WHO Head’ Reuters (17 May 2021) <https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/world-has-entered-stage-vaccine-apartheid-who-head-2021-05-17/> accessed 31 March 2022.

‘SADC’s Silence on Access to Covid-19 Vaccines Is Too Loud - The Mail & Guardian’ <https://mg.co.za/africa/2021-03-11-sadcs-silence-on-access-to-covid-19-vaccines-is-too-loud/> accessed 1 April 2022.

Schachter O, ‘Human Dignity as a Normative Concept’ (1983) 77 American Journal of International Law <https://doi.org/10.2307/2202536> DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2202536

Sekalala S and others, ‘An Intersectional Human Rights Approach to Prioritising Access to COVID-19 Vaccines’ (2021) 6 BMJ Global Health <https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004462> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004462

Shivji IG, ‘Constructing a New Rights Regime: Promises, Problems and Prospects’ (1999) 8 Social & Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1177/096466399900800205> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/096466399900800205

't Hoen E, ‘TRIPS, Pharmaceutical Patents, and Access to Essential Medicines: A Long Way from Seattle to Doha’ (2002) 3 Chi J Int’l L

‘Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals - United Nations Sustainable Development’ <https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/> accessed 1 April 2022.

Sucker F, ‘Tripped Up: All you Need to Know About the Covid-19 TRIPS Waiver and what it May Achieve for SA (and what it won’t)’ (Daily Maverick, 11 May 2021) <https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-11-tripped-up-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-covid-19-trips-waiver-and-what-it-may-achieve-for-sa-and-what-it-wont/> accessed 1 April 2022.

UN Human Rights Council, ‘International Solidarity in Aid of the Realization of Human Rights during and after the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic Report of the Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity’ <https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=153> accessed 31 March 2021.

Vawda YA and Baker BK, ‘Achieving Social Justice in the Human Rights/Intellectual Property Debate: Realising the Goal of Access to Medicines’ (2013) 13 African Human Rights Law Journal.

Werhane P and Singer AE, Business Ethics in Theory and Practice: Contributions from Asia and New Zealand, vol 13 (Springer Science & Business Media 1999) <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9287-1> DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9287-1

Wermiel SJ, ‘Law and Human Dignity: The Judicial Soul of Justice Brennan’ (1998) 7 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal.

World Health Organization, ‘Report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health’ <https://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/documents/thereport/ENPublicHealthReport.pdf?ua=1> accessed 1 April 2022.

World Trade Organization Communication from India and South Africa, ‘Waiver From Certain Provisions Of The Trips Agreement For The Prevention, Containment And Treatment of Covid-19’ .

‘WTO | Ministerial Conferences - Doha 4th Ministerial - TRIPS Declaration’ <https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/mindecl_trips_e.htm> accessed 25 March 2022.

Published

2022-07-27

How to Cite

Mate, Lyatitima Ernest. 2022. “The Obligations of Governments and Big Pharma Regarding Equitable Vaccine Supply”. Southern African Public Law 37 (1):25 pages. https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/10092.
Received 2021-09-21
Accepted 2022-04-06
Published 2022-07-27