Courses / Module

In an increasingly globalised society, the health of populations is no longer majorly determined by factors that remain within the control of national governments. Infectious diseases spread rapidly across borders as a result of global transit networks. Global industrialisation and urbanisation degrades human health through its impact upon the natural environment. Multinational corporations engage in coordinated transnational lobbying to prevent regulation of their health-harmful products, while global trade agreements increase the availability and affordability of these products. International institutions and their member states have a responsibility to collectively act to control these global threats to health, but agreeing upon the appropriate targets for action and the mechanisms to employ has so far proven extremely challenging. Law should certainly play a role in improving global health and promoting global health justice, however this must be part of a wider governance approach to global health issues. This modules gives students the opportunity to explore and debate the global dimensions of health and the extent to which law can usefully contribute to mitigating the factors that threaten it.