GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL MEDICINES: THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN PROMOTING HEALTH EQUITY

Abstract

This chapter examines global governance in access to essential medicines, highlighting the paradox between the formal recognition of the right to health in international law and the structural barriers that perpetuate inequalities, particularly in peripheral countries. Using a critical approach and document analysis, the study assesses the TRIPS Agreement as a mechanism that, by protecting patents, restricts generic drug production, while the Doha Declaration (2001) proves inadequate in the face of geopolitical pressures. Cases such as compulsory licensing in Brazil and India, alongside the failure of the pandemic waiver, lay bare the asymmetries of a system where commercial interests prevail over public health. The analysis demonstrates that

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2025.035-007