Heath care and public health are typically conceptualized as separate, albeit overlapping, systems. Health care’s goal is the improvement of individual patient outcomes through the provision of medical services. In contrast, public health is devoted to improving health outcomes in the...

A global health treaty, a Framework Convention on Global Health (FCGH) – grounded in the right to health, with the central goal of reducing immense domestic and global health inequities – could serve as a robust global governance instrument to underpin the United Nations post-2015 Millennium...

International law has responded weakly to the inequities in health care, public health, and the broader determinates of health that collectively cause the greatest loss of lives and human potential every year. Approximately one-third of global deaths can be attributed to enduring and...

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital health (DH) interventions in the Asia Pacific. This is evidenced in the 2022 Global Digital Health Monitor, with 58% of ESCAP members scoring 4 or higher, countries like Australia, Malaysia, PR China, and Thailand lead in DH...

In the decade since the Doha Declaration was adopted, significant progress has been made in addressing problems associated with innovation and access to medicines, including through expanded financial support for procurement and distribution of treatments and vaccines and the establishment of...

Cancer is a leading global cause of death and disability responsible for approximately 7.6 million deaths each year. Around one third of cancers are attributable to a small number of preventable risk factors – including smoking and the harmful consumption of alcohol – for which effective...

Public health law has been a quintessentially public law field, centered around a system of administrative agencies. In some respects, the field is moving even closer to the core of governmental functions. Since September 11, the 2001 anthrax attacks and Hurricane Katrina, the conceptual...

In this article, we discuss the public health provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). We first set forth a framework to identify the key reforms that are needed for a robust public health system. These include workforce and infrastructure investments. We then assess...

In 1989 the first National Women’s Health Policy was launched in Australia. Now, 20 years later, the Federal Government has announced plans for the development of a new National Women’s Health Policy to address the health needs of Australian women. This editorial examines the role for law in...

Over the past several years, "obesity activists," as well as many disability rights and critical legal theorists, have increasingly argued for the inclusion of obesity as a "disability" under anti-discrimination law, particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At the same time,...