CUGH 2024 Conference Concurrent Session 23

Reforming Global Health Law to Ensure Human Rights in Global Health
Human rights are central to global health, yet human rights limitations in the COVID-19 response have revealed the need to strengthen human rights obligations under global health law. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed wide-ranging human rights violations, as seen where states (a) neglected health systems and pandemic preparedness, (b) imposed disproportionate restrictions on individual liberties; (c) implemented lockdowns that challenged underlying determinants of health; and (d) failed to cooperate globally to ensure vaccine equity. Such violative actions impaired the pandemic response, undermining global solidarity in facing a common threat, and raise an imperative to strengthen human rights in ongoing reforms. This year is pivotal for the future of global health governance, with interconnected global health law reforms underway through the World Health Organization - amending the International Health Regulations and developing a new Pandemic Accord. Exploring the interconnections between global health law and human rights law, this session examines how these law reforms provide a crucial opportunity to advance human rights norms in global health governance, with panelists addressing human rights limitations across pandemic responses, human rights principles to frame public health emergencies, and human rights reforms to ensure justice in future global health challenges.