Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Towards A Framework Convention On Global Health, Lawrence O. Gostin, Eric A. Friedman, Kent Buse, Attiya Waris, Moses Mulumba, Mayowa Joel, Lola Dare, Ames Dhai, Devi Sridhar

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

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 Development Goals (MDGs). It would ensure for all people the three essential conditions for a healthy life–public health, health care, and the positive social determinants of health–while advancing good governance, responding to drivers of health disadvantages for marginalized populations, elevating health in other legal regimes, and enhancing people's ability to claim their rights.

The legally binding nature of …

Advancing The Right To Health Through Global Organizations: The Potential Role Of A Framework Convention On Global Health, Eric A. Friedman, Lawrence O. Gostin, Kent Buse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Organizations, partnerships, and alliances form the building blocks of global governance. Global health organizations thus have the potential to play a formative role in determining the extent to which people are able to realize their right to health.

This article examines how major global health organizations, such as WHO, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNAIDS, and GAVI approach human rights concerns, including equality, accountability, and inclusive participation. We argue that organizational support for the right to health must transition from ad hoc and partial to permanent and comprehensive.

Drawing on the literature and our knowledge of …

Better Health, But Less Justice: Widening Health Disparities After National Federation Of Independent Business V. Sebelius, Emily W. Parento, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

At the time it was enacted in 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was widely applauded by health activists, as it meant that the United States would at last join the overwhelming majority of industrialized countries in providing its population with guaranteed access to affordable health care. Roughly half of the increase in access to health insurance was to come from the expansion of Medicaid eligibility to all U.S. citizens and legal residents with income below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level. However, the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius ( …

Towards A Framework Convention On Global Health: A Transformative Agenda For Global Health Justice, Lawrence O. Gostin, Eric A. Friedman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

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 unconscionable inequities. Despite significant progress in improving global health over the past several decades, these inequities persist. Current global governance for health is inadequate to the task of resolving these inequities, from lack of accountability and enforcement to inadequate funding and the absence of leadership required to respond to the threats to health that arise from other …