JJUA55136U Health and Human Rights

This course will educate you in states’ human rights obligations and train you to evaluate health laws and policies through a human rights lens. Perhaps imposing lockdowns makes good sense from a public health perspective but is this compliant with human rights? Using algorithms in hospitals and research projects may lead to more precise treatments but what are the privacy implications of processing patients’ personal data?

We will analyse human rights protected under international, regional and national laws, including the right to health, food, education and information, freedom of speech and privacy. You will explore how the GDPR interacts with human and patients’ rights. The course also draws on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially SDG 3 “good health and wellbeing”.

The first part of the course provides students with comprehensive knowledge and competences in health and human rights, social determinants of health, equality in health, access to justice (Regional Courts, UN monitoring committees), the relation between human rights, patients’ rights and public health law.

The second part of the course evaluates specific health interventions from a human rights perspective, including issues related to vulnerable groups (children, older persons, persons with disability), chronic diseases, reproductive rights, end-of-life- decisions, big data and artificial intelligence, genetics, epidemics and pandemics, and mandatory vaccines. Two workshops will prepare the students to write the independent assignment for the exam.

The course builds on the mandatory BA-courses in international law and human rights. It relates, furthermore, to the elective BA-courses in Health law, and EU data protection law. Basic knowledge of international human rights law (e.g. from International Human Rights Law, or Health Law) is an advantage, but not a necessity.