Access to Essential Medicines as a Human Right: History

As the pharmaceutical industry transitions from discovery and refinement to research and development, the debate over access to essential medicines is fast becoming a proving ground for American institutions, Western values, and individual morality. Globally, there is tension between rich First-World producers and poor Third-World consumers. Combinations of small, nongovernmental human rights organizations, and transnational authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO), have succeeded in checking the absolute number of underserved, even in the midst of significant population gains. Notwithstanding these efforts, presently there are hundreds of thousands of people lacking necessary medications, who are suffering between the competing interests of pharmaceutical consumers and pharmaceutical producers.

The Heinz Dilemma

Many general psychology classes introduce students to Lawrence Kohlberg, a 20th-century psychologist famous for his work on moral ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles