Right to Health Litigation and HIV/AIDS Policy, Benjamin Mason Meier and Alicia Ely Yamin, 39 J.L. MED. AND ETHICS s1 (2011)

This article outlines the developing interaction between human rights litigation and HIV/AIDS policy. Specifically, the authors discuss the progression in different countries of using litigation to further individual health needs and to hold governments accountable for human rights violations. In the area of HIV, litigation about human rights has helped bring about many international policy changes. The article cites specific examples of this, including cases that have utilized human rights-based litigation in the United States, India, and Argentina to expand access to antiretroviral drugs, guarantee insurance coverage, and hold states accountable for their HIV policies.

However, the authors also detail the backlash that has occurred as a result of these growing litigation opportunities in low- and middle-income countries. Critics have argued that this human rights litigation has led individual claims to take priority over state needs and may redirect resources and create inequalities in health care. But, as the article points out, there has been little research or evidence gathered to reflect the effects of this human rights-based litigation on the public's health. Thus, there remains a need for further research to more fully understand the connection between human rights litigation and public health.