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Global Health Law: Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the Field

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2025

Lawrence O. Gostin Open the ORCID record for Lawrence O. Gostin [Opens in a new window]
Lawrence O. Gostin*
Affiliation:
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the decade since the first edition of Global Health Law was published, the world has moved incrementally towards global health with justice, at least by one basic metric: life expectancy has edged up globally, with more rapid gains in low- than high-income countries. But to look around the world, global health with justice still seems a distant dream. Health gaps between people in rich and poor countries remain shocking and unconscionable—as do health inequities within countries. The pandemic also gave salience to profound health injustices—from injustices in access to lifesaving vaccines to gaping disparities in morbidity and mortality based on income, race, and national origin. So did the Trump administration’s decision to pause, and then slash, foreign assistance, bringing an end to lifesaving programs around the world. Guided by the overarching theme of justice, these reflections canvass the history of global health law as a field and discuss developments and challenges in the field across four core themes: multilateralism; equitable distribution of the benefits of scientific advancement; global health law for the poly-crises; and human rights and equity.

Keywords

global healthlawpublic healthgovernance
Type
Symposium
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , First View , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics

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