International Law Regulation on Access to Health Technologies

Abstract

Over the past decades, the number of system challenges in health protection has rapidly increased, impacting every country, regardless of the economic well-being level. The situation is mainly driven by socio-demographic shocks, geopolitical instability, as well as the lack of a systematic approach to the development of legal regulation of the health sector at the international and national level. Health technologies are fundamental to providing health care, social care, and responding to natural and deliberate emergencies. Access to healthcare technologies is regulated by various branches of international law, which determines the complexity of this process, as well as the need to form special international legal mechanisms to ensure systematic counteraction to threats in the field of health protection, including emergencies. This article presents analysis of the access to health technologies role in rethinking the concept of human security at the international level, as well as in the framework of national security strategies. The author consistently examines the main directions for the development of health technologies transfer regulation, including the protection of the IP rights, the formation of global partnerships in the field of procurement, as well as the harmonization of legal regulation within the framework of regional economic integration initiatives. Special attention in the article is paid to the analysis of the main international regulation for data transfer and
access to scientific knowledge necessary for health technologies transfer, as well as the assessment of national regulation. Based on the conducted analysis, the author formulates proposals for improving the international legal mechanisms regulating access to health technologies.