Groningen Centre for Health Law

Suliyat Omotolani Olapade - At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, some high-income countries (HICs) enacted laws and undertook other measures that resulted in restricted access to COVID-19 vaccines and related commodities in low-income countries (LICs). It was reported, for example, that the United Kingdom enacted laws to prevent the exportation of essential medicines, the European Union curbed exports of hospital supplies, and the USA restricted PPE [personal protective equipment] exports.

Pepijn Tukker & Dominique Mollet - For the past two years, there has been increased attention for (public) health-related topics among policy makers. However, due to new global crises, such as the war in Ukraine, Covid-19 is no longer the headliner of daily news and newspapers, and policymakers’ focus is shifting away: public health appears to lose its momentum as a topic for discussion. 

Thom Geertsema - Het onlangs gepresenteerde ‘Nationaal actieplan versterken zoönosenbeleid’ van de Ministeries van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (VWS) en Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) is een goede stap om het gevaar en de risico’s van zoönosen onder de aandacht te brengen. Het nationaal actieplan zoals dat er nu ligt is ambitieus. Dit komt mede vanwege de diverse partijen met elk hun eigen rol in de aanpak van zoönosen. Het is daarom zeker een stap vooruit om deze kwestie vanuit een One Health benadering aan te pakken.

Brigit Toebes - On 12-13 May, the Groningen Centre for Health Law and the European Scientific Network on Law and Tobacco organized a conference entitled ‘Tobacco, Law and Human Rights’. The event marked the finalization of our project funded by the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) entitled ‘the rights of children to a tobacco-free environment’, which started in 2016.

Yumeno Grace Nishikawa - This blog post aims to demonstrate how Japanese citizens try to protect their health from harmful emissions by claiming the right to a healthy and peaceful life by discussing the arguments made in Citizens’ Committee on the Kobe Coal-Fired Power Plant v. Kobe Steel Ltd., et al., which is currently pending before the Kobe District Court.

Brigit Toebes - Several sources have reported attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine, including a children’s hospital, causing numerous deaths and injuries. [...] In this post I argue that such attacks constitute violations of human rights, international humanitarian law, and medical ethical standards.

Brigit Toebes - Het is daarom des te verwonderlijker dat het coalitieakkoord het voeren van een integraal volksgezondheidsbeleid niet tot haar absolute prioriteit heeft gemaakt.

Michael Woldeyes - As most African countries are State Parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (hereafter ICESCR) and other human rights treaties, they are obliged under the right to health to step up efforts towards reducing RTAs by acting against corruption. This blogpost discusses how RTAs and corruption are issues of health law and what African countries are required to do to curb the problem.

David Patterson - Mosquitoes winging their way north across Europe bringing dengue. Floods and drownings. Heat stress. Despair. We are all aware of the health impacts of climate change. But how do we get governments to act?

Michael Woldeyes - It has been 15 years since the WHO researched khat and decided not to subject it for a treaty-based prohibition. However, several research on the mental and physical health effects of khat have been published within these fifteen years and as shown above, many countries have moved to ban the drug. So, is there a need for the WHO to reopen discussions on khat?