ABSTRACT
The prominent role of health in the Millennium Development Goals was one of the factors strengthening public attention to health as a basic human right. Civil and political rights have long been treated as the core of human rights, particularly in the Western world. The inclusion of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the negotiation of an international covenant on ESC rights were largely pushed by developing and socialist countries. The past decades have witnessed the conclusion of many new trade and investment agreements that may very well undermine the right to health by enabling increases in the price of medicines beyond affordable levels through stringent IP policies. The lack of access to life-saving medicines particularly for people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries became a global scandal and succeeded in mobilizing extended networks of civil society organizations (CSO).
