Meeting #1: (Limited to 47 Delegates)
United Nations Human Rights Council
Agenda: Protecting Human Rights in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Human rights are inherent to all human beings. They are defined and established in more than 80 international legal instruments and include fundamental protections of human dignity, needs, and freedoms, such as food, housing, privacy, personal security, and democratic participation. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, the responsibility to protect human rights has primarily fallen on governments. Beginning in the early 2000s, however, it became increasingly clear that the freedoms enshrined in the human rights framework could also be violated— and promoted—by the private sector.
In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles), the first international instrument to assign companies the responsibility to respect human rights. The Guiding Principles state that governmentsmust put in place good policies, laws, and enforcement measures to prevent companies from violating rights; that companies must refrain from negatively impacting rights even when governments are failing to create or enforce necessary laws; and that victims of corporate abuses must have access to effective remedy. As part of this responsibility, the Guiding Principles require companies to undertake due diligence to identify and manage their negative human rights impacts.
In this meeting room, delegates will discuss four different issues related to human rights in the pharmaceutical sector and collaboratively come up with ideas for positive impact.
Committee A (12 delegates): Pharmaceuticals and the Environmental Impact
There is a compelling body of research on the negative effects on humans, ecosystems, and nature at large resulting from the accumulation of pharmaceuticals in the environment around manufacturing sites, such as in water systems. These effects range from the near elimination of entire species to unknown long-term health impacts. This has major implications for global health and calls for pharma companies to take action, which involves a wide range of measures, from improving the monitoring of third-party suppliers who provide them with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), to considering environmental impacts right from the R&D phase, to educating consumers on responsible disposal of unused medicines.
Committee B (12 delegates): Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
AI is opening many opportunities when it comes to healthcare: identifying high risk patient groups and launching prevention therapies, automating diagnostic tests, adapting therapies and drug formulations to patients, and improving R&D processes. However, these applications come with human rights-related challenges that need to be addressed carefully: privacy (and risks related to misuse of data), data-related discrimination (data is not equally available across geographies and demographics), and the deepening digital divide and gaps in health literacy—hence unequal access to healthcare.
Committee C (12 delegates): Affordability and Accessibility of Medicines
Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims at achieving universal health coverage and providing access to safe and affordable medicines and vaccines for all. For many people today, including in high-income economies, the price of medicines can be a barrier to accessing healthcare. Companies developing,manufacturing, marketing, and distributing pharmaceutical products face increasing scrutiny of their pricing policies and their role in making medicines more accessible and affordable for all patients, especially for low-income patients. Pharma companies need to take an inclusive approach to product pricing, intellectual property protection, and licensing to promote the right to health by ensuring that the majority of patients in need can afford their products, regardless of income level or geography.
Beyond affordability, accessibility of medicines is another barrier to healthcare for many patients, including vulnerable and disadvantaged populations—for example, people living in certain geographies, rural communities, and migrants. Accessibility can be limited or unstable due to dysfunctional distribution channels and inefficient health systems. Furthermore, medicine registration policies in certain countries also pose challenges for pharma companies wanting to register products in these countries. Companies should be innovative and build new types of partnerships to ensure that their drugs can reach patients in need, especially in developing countries and in rural areas.
Committee D (11 delegates): Labour, Health, and Safety across the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Pharma companies rely highly on complex supply chains comprising thousands of suppliers around the world. As a result, monitoring of suppliers’ labor standards remains limited, which represents a high risk in emerging markets where the workforce is cheaper and where regulations—notably around workplace health and safety—are not properly enforced. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified risks related to health and safety as well as labor rights, particularly for vulnerable and migrant workers. Companies should promote decent working conditions in their supply chain with appropriate due diligence and monitoring, as well as participation in collaborative efforts to drive harmonized standards—for instance, through the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative. The COVID-19 crisis also raises the question of supply chain disruption and business continuity, as major drug manufacturers rely on a handful of countries for active pharmaceutical ingredients supplies.
United Nations Human Rights Council
Agenda: Protecting Human Rights in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Human rights are inherent to all human beings. They are defined and established in more than 80 international legal instruments and include fundamental protections of human dignity, needs, and freedoms, such as food, housing, privacy, personal security, and democratic participation. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, the responsibility to protect human rights has primarily fallen on governments. Beginning in the early 2000s, however, it became increasingly clear that the freedoms enshrined in the human rights framework could also be violated— and promoted—by the private sector.
In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles), the first international instrument to assign companies the responsibility to respect human rights. The Guiding Principles state that governmentsmust put in place good policies, laws, and enforcement measures to prevent companies from violating rights; that companies must refrain from negatively impacting rights even when governments are failing to create or enforce necessary laws; and that victims of corporate abuses must have access to effective remedy. As part of this responsibility, the Guiding Principles require companies to undertake due diligence to identify and manage their negative human rights impacts.
In this meeting room, delegates will discuss four different issues related to human rights in the pharmaceutical sector and collaboratively come up with ideas for positive impact.
Committee A (12 delegates): Pharmaceuticals and the Environmental Impact
There is a compelling body of research on the negative effects on humans, ecosystems, and nature at large resulting from the accumulation of pharmaceuticals in the environment around manufacturing sites, such as in water systems. These effects range from the near elimination of entire species to unknown long-term health impacts. This has major implications for global health and calls for pharma companies to take action, which involves a wide range of measures, from improving the monitoring of third-party suppliers who provide them with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), to considering environmental impacts right from the R&D phase, to educating consumers on responsible disposal of unused medicines.
Committee B (12 delegates): Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
AI is opening many opportunities when it comes to healthcare: identifying high risk patient groups and launching prevention therapies, automating diagnostic tests, adapting therapies and drug formulations to patients, and improving R&D processes. However, these applications come with human rights-related challenges that need to be addressed carefully: privacy (and risks related to misuse of data), data-related discrimination (data is not equally available across geographies and demographics), and the deepening digital divide and gaps in health literacy—hence unequal access to healthcare.
Committee C (12 delegates): Affordability and Accessibility of Medicines
Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims at achieving universal health coverage and providing access to safe and affordable medicines and vaccines for all. For many people today, including in high-income economies, the price of medicines can be a barrier to accessing healthcare. Companies developing,manufacturing, marketing, and distributing pharmaceutical products face increasing scrutiny of their pricing policies and their role in making medicines more accessible and affordable for all patients, especially for low-income patients. Pharma companies need to take an inclusive approach to product pricing, intellectual property protection, and licensing to promote the right to health by ensuring that the majority of patients in need can afford their products, regardless of income level or geography.
Beyond affordability, accessibility of medicines is another barrier to healthcare for many patients, including vulnerable and disadvantaged populations—for example, people living in certain geographies, rural communities, and migrants. Accessibility can be limited or unstable due to dysfunctional distribution channels and inefficient health systems. Furthermore, medicine registration policies in certain countries also pose challenges for pharma companies wanting to register products in these countries. Companies should be innovative and build new types of partnerships to ensure that their drugs can reach patients in need, especially in developing countries and in rural areas.
Committee D (11 delegates): Labour, Health, and Safety across the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Pharma companies rely highly on complex supply chains comprising thousands of suppliers around the world. As a result, monitoring of suppliers’ labor standards remains limited, which represents a high risk in emerging markets where the workforce is cheaper and where regulations—notably around workplace health and safety—are not properly enforced. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified risks related to health and safety as well as labor rights, particularly for vulnerable and migrant workers. Companies should promote decent working conditions in their supply chain with appropriate due diligence and monitoring, as well as participation in collaborative efforts to drive harmonized standards—for instance, through the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative. The COVID-19 crisis also raises the question of supply chain disruption and business continuity, as major drug manufacturers rely on a handful of countries for active pharmaceutical ingredients supplies.