Health Law Gov: GlobalLocal

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course aims to demonstrate the importance of using law (statutory, regulatory, and, where applicable, judge-made), informed by sound technical skills in science, technology, and medicine, to advance objectives relevant for both health and international relations. Further, it seeks to contextualize how and where law fits in the broader framework for global health governance. We will examine the wide range of public, private, and civil society players, institutions, and organizations that are involved in shaping, directing, and influencing global health programs, policies, and outcomes. Law can be a powerful instrument for influencing health at the domestic, regional, and global levels. In global health, domestic and international law are interrelated and bi-directional in their impact on health and justice. Innovations in national law and policy can offer a model for other countries and regions. International law influences domestic law and policy. High-impact litigation in one jurisdiction can empower advocates in other jurisdictions to undertake similar action. Despite this, the parameters of the utility of law in global health are not clearly defined, and while some contend that “global health law” has emerged as a unique discipline – at its core, it is an amalgam of the traditional rules of international law and diplomacy combined with domestic law and policymaking. As a result, the ensuing mechanisms and actors that govern global health reflect this fluid relationship between global health, law, and governance. Drawing from the public health framework of the social determinants of health, this course will examine law and governance through the lens of “legal determinants of health,” at both the domestic and the international levels. This approach explains how law functions as a tool to shape global health outcomes, and it explores the practical ways in which decisions are made and implemented within the governing mechanisms of important bilateral relationships (e.g., US government and other countries) and multilateral institutions (e.g., World Health Organization, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria) that impact global health activities and outcomes. We will pay special attention to the leaders, venues, instruments, politics, and processes involved in global health governance; the strategies and tactics that are pursued by those involved in governing mechanisms related to health. This course requires students to read and interpret health related legal instruments, participate in in-class simulations, and craft and present a comprehensive persuasive brief.