Human Rights and Drug Control : Access to Controlled Essential Medicines in Resource-Constrained Countries

Human Rights and Drug Control analyses a human rights interpretation of the international drug-control framework with an emphasis on advancing the access to controlled essential medicines in resource-constrained countries.

Controlled essential medicines are medicines included in the World Health Organization''s List of Essential Medicines, and whose active substance is listed under the international drug-control treaties. Their availability and accessibility therefore fall within the remit of both human rights and international drug-control law. Human Rights and Drug Control analyzes a human rights interpretation of the international drug-control framework, with an emphasis on advancing the access to controlled essential medicines in resource-constrained countries. It first aims to identify a human rights foundation of drug control by examining how human rights norms would balance the underlying tension: some controlled substances have a clear, evidence-based medical benefit, yet also have the potential to be misused, which may lead to dependency disorders. Having explored this premise in the context of human rights law and theory, this book then applies these findings to Uganda and Latvia-two ''best practice'' countries-when it comes to improving the accessibility of morphine for pain treatment. Relying on qualitative research methods, the study explores whether the human rights basis of drug-control regulation may be adequately integrated into the structures of the present international drug-control system. It specifically deals with various technical, administrative, and procedural obligations relating to the import/export and retail trade of controlled medicines. The book concludes with a proposal on how a human rights approach to drug-control may be advanced, specifically highlighting the importance of reconciling international obligations with the local reality in which these obligations come into play. Dissertation. (Series: School of Human Rights Research, Vol. 80) [Subject: Human Rights Law, Medical Law, International Law]