Groningen Centre for Health Law

The report titled “Quickscan Gezondheidszorg asielzoekerskinderen in Nederland” was commissioned and published by the UNICEF-led Working Group on Children in Asylum Seeker Centres (Werkgroep Kind in azc).

The issues of high priced medicines and problems with access to medicines have for many years been themes belonging to the realm of global health. We are familiar with images of people in African capitals demonstrating in the streets for access to medicines, such as those to treat HIV/AIDS. Today these images can be shot in the streets of Madrid, London, Bucharest, Athens, San Francisco and Washington DC concerning access to a number of medicines. High -income countries, including those in the European Union, are struggling with the burden of high priced medicines on their health budgets. In some cases this is now leading to rationing of proven effective, essential medications even in high-income countries.

The era of infectious diseases was meant to have ended – no longer was man to be burdened by the mortality and morbidity posed by viruses and microbes.

Aspects of International Health Law, which may be found in various documents of International Human Rights Law (HRL) such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (much of the content of which is by now considered customary law), suggest that everyone, including terrorists, are entitled to the right to medical treatment. However, does this right still stand in times of armed conflict when the rules of war come into play? Are terrorists protected under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and, if so, to what extent? While the relevant legal framework does suggest such a protection, harsh domestic counter-terrorism policies pose a significant obstacle to the realization of the right to medical treatment.

Summer School – NCDs & The Law

As inspired by Australia, several countries in Europe have adopted or are in the process of adopting plain packaging for tobacco products. While plain packaging has been introduced in the UK, France and Ireland, Norway is in the process of adopting it. Several other European countries, including Hungary, Finland, Slovenia, Belgium and Sweden are considering it.

On 2 June 2016, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organized an expert meeting titled “Non-refoulement in International Human Rights Law” in Geneva. During the meeting, representatives from academia, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), OHCHR, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), human rights treaty bodies and courts as well as members of non-governmental organizations voiced their ideas on this matter. The meeting aimed to clarify the scope and future of the principle of non-refoulement as well as to highlight possible legal and policy avenues and challenges. One of our GHLG members, Veronika Flegar was invited to speak about her research on extreme poverty, vulnerability and non-refoulement.

Longarts Wanda de Kanter bezoekt UMCG en geeft eerste Healthy Ageing Lezing

Earlier this month the US pharmaceutical company Gilead obtained a patent in India for sofosbuvir, part of a treatment of hepatitis C that became famous because for its 1000$ a pill price tag. (For additional information read my comment in The Lancet of 26 May here.) Hepatitis C is an infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which can lead to lethal liver disease if left untreated. Globally 130 – 150 million people have chronic hepatitis C according to the WHO. In 2015, signalling the need for affordable HCV treatments, the World Health Organization added sofosbuvir and other antivirals to the WHO Essential Medicines List. However, the high price of Gilead’s HCV treatment limits its worldwide accessibility. Even high-income and those middle-income countries that are excluded from licensing agreements and price competition feel the need to ration the treatment.

On the 24th of May, Brigit Toebes, Veronika Flegar and Lucía Berro Pizzarossa participated in the seminar “Empowerment of Refugee Women”.