Role of international law in promoting global public health

This session is designed to educate participants about international laws applying to public health, and to consider the future role of international public health regulation. The two primary areas of international law that have implications for public health practice, humanitarian law and human rights law, are limited in scope. International humanitarian law is focused on armed conflicts, both domestic and international, and applies only to entities engaged in conflict (governmental and non-state actors). Its public health provisions are minimal and focused on basic needs. By contrast, international human rights law delineates inherent rights of persons, regardless of conflict. However, it applies only to governments (rather then private actors) although some have argued that it may apply to non-governmental actors who exercise government-like functions. Moreover, derogations are allowed under human rights law, such as in times of public health emergencies. Besides these two areas, there has been little development of a body of international regulations to promote the health of the world population. Instead, most of the focus has been on preventing the spread of infectious disease from one country to another-- a so-called “horizontal” focus on protecting borders. Laws designed to promote population health are generally domestic, and can vary from nation to nation. With increasing globalization, however, public health has become an international issue. This session will consider whether and how international law should play a role in providing a cohesive framework of strategies to promote global population health.