Access to medicines is important to society because it is part of the fulfillment of the Right to Health, which is fundamental to human rights. The Right to Health was first enshrined in the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1946, which stated, “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without the distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”

Furthermore, Article 25 of the United Nations (UN)’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 provides as follows: