Law and Global Health Security (LAWS90215)

The importance of health to the functioning of societies, and to our globalized world, has never been more apparent than it is today. The global and national crises that COVID-19 has generated have underscored why health has, over the last two decades, increasingly been framed as a matter of national and international security. This subject will trace this ‘securitisation of health’ and explore its implications for global health and global health law and governance. The subject will interrogate the following matters: the extent to which understanding health through a ‘security’ lens might either promote or undermine good health practices and outcomes, international health cooperation, and the achievement of broader global priorities; the key legal frameworks, both international and domestic, for health security; and the key actors in global health security, both globally and domestically, and across sectors and disciplines, e.g. medicine, public health, law enforcement, military, other security. This subject will explore these aspects of health security primarily through consideration of infectious diseases, while also considering similar challenges posed by bioterrorism, climate change and antimicrobial resistance. The subject will be highly topical, exploring the most recent developments in global and national responses to COVID-19 and to preparedness for future pandemics.

Principal topics will include:

• The evolution of the concept of health security
• Infectious diseases and health security – HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19
• Bioterrorism, climate change, antimicrobial resistance and health security
• Global governance and health security – the role of international legal frameworks for health and for international peace and security
• Global governance and health security – the roles of key global actors including the World Health Organization and the UN Security Council, and other international institutions
• Tensions between international cooperation on shared global problems and retreats to national security
• Collaboration and tensions across disciplines and sectors (e.g. medicine, public health, law enforcement, military, other security)
• Tensions between health and ‘law and order’ approaches to health crises, including empirical evidence on community engagement, support and compliance with laws
• Implications of health and ‘law and order’ approaches for human rights, including the right to health and civil and political rights