Summary

In the present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/141, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights outlines challenges in relation to access to medicines that arise in the existing system for pharmaceutical innovation, its associated business models and current pricing practices. The prohibitive cost of medicines in poor and wealthy countries alike is a major reason why 2 billion persons lack access to the medicines that they need and thousands of preventable deaths occur every day, raising substantial human rights concerns. The High Commissioner emphasizes that, whereas pricing based on a reasonable rate of return would save thousands of lives, maximizing investor return at all costs demonstrates a systematic lack of compliance with human rights law by Governments and failure by business enterprises to meet their responsibility to respect human rights. It urges State action to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and new business models that reconcile the fiduciary responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies with their human rights responsibilities.