Global Health Disputes and Disparities: A Critical Appraisal of International Law and Population Health

Global Health Disputes and Disparities explores inequalities in health around the world, looking particularly at the opportunity for, and limitations of, international law to promote population health by examining its intersection with human rights, trade, and epidemiology, and the controversial issues of legal process, religion, access to care, and the social context of illness.

Using a theoretical framework rooted in international law, this volume draws on a wide range of rich empirical data to assess the challenges facing the field, including international legal treaty interpretation, and specific issues related to the application of law in resolving pressing issues in gender, access to care, and social determinants of health. In doing so, it illustrates the challenges for implementing rights-based approaches to address health disparities, with profound implications for future regulations and policymaking. It includes both interviews with leading scholars, as well as a variety of case studies from prominent international forums, including formal claims brought before the Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, as well as regional and national experiences, drawn from disputes in India, Indonesia, South Africa and the USA.

This volume is an innovative contribution to the burgeoning fields of global health and human rights, and will be of interest to students and researchers in public health, global health, law and sociology interested in the social determinants of health and social justice from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

I. Introduction to International Law and Global Health II. A Critical Assessment of Treaty-Monitoring Bodies: A Case-Study of CEDAW's Optional Protocol Introduction I. Proposed Legal Framework for Considering a Communication A. Parsing Individual and Structural Conceptions of Remedies B. Form and Substance of Committee Review and Deliberations C. On The Nature and Scope of General Recommendations II. Examining the Optional Protocol in Practice A. Review of the Allegations, Violations, and Reasons Employed B. Interpretive Trends and the Utility of the Proposed Legal Framework C. Applying the Framework to a Health-Related Claim: Abortion III. Conclusion III. Perspectives from the Field: A Conversation with George Annas, J.D., M.P.H., Chair, Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights; William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor IV. At the Intersection of Law, Human Rights, and Religion: A Case-Study in Female Autonomy in Hinduism and Islam Introduction I. Trends in Unsafe Abortions and Female Decision-Making Capacity A. Public Health Burden and Impact on Women in India B. Public Health Burden and Impact on Women in Pakistan II. Legal Instruments and Derogation from Human Rights Obligations A. Declarations and Reservations to CEDAW B. Indian Unconstitutional Agenda Furthered by Conflicting Laws & Rulings C. Pervasive Problems Amidst an Incoherent Legal Framework in Pakistan III. Reconciling Human Rights, Religion, and Social Justice A. Muddupalani's Radhika Santawanam and [Post] Colonial Patriarch B. The Parameters of Female Autonomy and Sexuality in Foundational Texts: The Mahabharata C. The Principle of Awliyah and the Exercise of Female Autonomy D. Utilizing Religion to Promote Human Rights and Functional Capabilities IV. Recommendations for Ethical, Legal and Structural Reform V. Conclusion V. Perspectives from the Field: A Conversation with Benjamin Meier, Ph.D., J.D., LL.M., Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill VI. Trade and Health: Emergent Paradigms and Case-Studies in Infectious Diseases an Emerging Paradigm Shift I. Indonesia's Withdrawal of H1N1 Viral Samples A. Conceptual Fallacy of the Most Stable Nation Status B. An Overview of the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and the IHR II. Securing Global Health Interests Cannot be Traced to the Doha Declaration or the IHR A. Focus Box 1. HIV/AIDS and Access: The South African Experience B. The Doha Declaration and Public Health Emergencies C. Npis are not a Long-Term Solution to Contain Infectious Diseases D. Focus Box 2. SARS and XDR-TB - International and National Responses III. State Epidemic Control and Use of Biological Materials A. Withholding Viral Strains is in Potential Contravention to a State's Obligations Under the IHR in Taking Measures to Control Epidemics B. State Control of Biological Materials is an Invalid Proxy for Individual Rights and is Superseded by Public Health Imperatives C. The Principle of Awliyah and the Exercise of Female Autonomy D. Utilizing Religion to Promote Human Rights and Functional Capabilities IV. Conclusion VII. Perspectives from the Field: A Conversation with Kayhan Parsi, Ph.D., J.D., Associate Professor of Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University Chicago VIII. Epidemiology and the Challenge of Regulating Social Determinants of Health IX. Perspectives from the Field: A Conversation with John Kraemer, J.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.