Addressing Antibiotic Resistance Requires Robust International Accountability Mechanisms | Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics | Cambridge Core (original) (raw)

Extract

Most proposals for new international agreements aim to address important global challenges. If the goal is to solve problems, then the value of these agreements depends on their ability to influence the world — to shape norms, constrain behavior, facilitate cooperation, and mobilize action. A recent review of empirical studies has suggested that many international agreements fail to achieve their aspirations. The review indicates that the form in which states make commitments to each other — through an international legal agreement or through other means — may not be as important as commonly thought. It is the content of the commitments and how these are supported by mechanisms to encourage implementation that matter the most. When developing proposals for new international agreements, like the one that has recently been proposed to address antibiotic resistance (ABR), attention to implementation mechanisms should therefore be equal to if not greater than the attention paid to its form.

References

Hoffman, S. J. Røttingen, J.-A., “Assessing the Expected Impact of Global Health Treaties: Evidence from 90 Quantitative Evaluations,” American Journal of Public Health 105, no. 1 (2015): 26–40.Google Scholar

Hoffman, S. J. Outterson, K. Røttingen, J.-A. Cars, O. Clift, C. Rizvi, Z. Rotberg, F. Tomson, G. Zorzet, A., “An International Legal Framework to Address Antimicrobial Resistance,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 93, no. 2 (2015): 66; Hoffman, S. J. Røttingen, J.-A. Frenk, J., “International Law Has a Role to Play in Addressing Antibiotic Resistance,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Available via aslme.org.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

See Hoffman, Røttingen, , supra note 1; Hoffman, S. J. Røttingen, J.-A., “Assessing Implementation Mechanisms for an International Agreement on Research and Development for Health Products,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 90, no. 11 (2012): 854–863; Hoffman, S. J., “Making the International Health Regulations Matter: Promoting Compliance through Effective Dispute Resolution,” in Rushton, S. Youde, J., eds., Routledge Handbook on Global Health Security (Oxford: Routledge, 2014): At 239–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Schedler, A., “Conceptualizing Accountability,” in Schedler, A. Diamond, L. Plattner, M. F., eds., The Self-Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1999): At 13–28.Google Scholar

Grant, R. W. Koehane, R. O., “Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics,” American Political Science Review 99, no. 1 (2005): 29–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Bovens, M., “Analysing and Assessing Accountability: A Conceptual Framework,” European Law Journal 4, no. 13 (2007): 447–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Rizvi, Z. Hoffman, S. J., “Effective Global Action on Antibiotic Resistance Requires Careful Consideration of Convening Forums,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Available via aslme.org.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Behdinan, A. Hoffman, S. J. Pearcey, M., “Some Global Policies for Antibiotic Resistance Depend on Legally Binding and Enforceable Commitments,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 43, no. 2, Supp. (2015): Online only.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Mitchell, R. B., “Sources of Transparency: Information Systems in International Regimes,” International Studies Quarterly 42, no. 1 (1998): 109–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

See Hoffman, Røttingen, , supra note 3; Victor, G. Greene, O. Lanchbery, J. di Primio, J.C. Korula, A., “Review Mechanisms in the Effective Implementation of International Environmental Agreements,” IIASA Working Paper WP-94-114 (Laxenburg, Austria: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, 1994).Google Scholar

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013 (2013).Google Scholar

See Hoffman, , supra note 3; Menkel-Meadow, C. J., “Dispute Resolution,” in Cane, P. Kritzer, H., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010): At 596–624.Google Scholar

Yang, T., “International Treaty Enforcement as a Public Good: Institutional Deterrent Sanctions in International Environmental Agreements,” Michigan Journal of International Law 27 (2006): 1131–1184.Google Scholar

Hoffman, S. J. Røttingen, J.-A. Frenk, J., “Assessing Proposals for New Global Health Treaties: An Analytic Framework,” American Journal of Public Health (2015): e1–e8, doi:10. 2105/AJPH.2015.302726.Google Scholar

Hoffman, S. J., “Mitigating Inequalities of Influence among States in Global Decision Making,” Global Policy 3, no. 4 (2012): 421–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Barnes, A. Brown, G. W., “The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Expertise, Accountability and the Depoliticisation of Global Health Governance,” in Williams, O. D. Rushton, S., eds., Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011): At 53–75.Google Scholar

Esty, D. C., “Rethinking Global Environmental Governance to Deal with Climate Change: The Multiple Logics of Global Collective Action,” American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 98, no. 2 (2008): 116–121.Google Scholar

Flynn, S., “Special 301 and Global Administrative Law,” in Dreyfuss, R. C. Garavito, C. R., eds., Balancing Wealth and Health (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014): At 225–246.Google Scholar