Has Global Health Law Risen to Meet the COVID-19 Challenge? Revisiting the International Health Regulations to Prepare for Future Threats

Authors

Lawrence O. Gostin, Georgetown University - Law Center - O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health LawFollow
Roojin Habibi, University of Ottawa
Benjamin Mason Meier, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-10-2020

Abstract

Global health law is essential in responding to the infectious disease threats of a globalizing world, where no single country, or border, can wall off disease. Yet, the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has tested the essential legal foundations of the global health system. Within weeks, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has circumnavigated the globe, bringing the world to a halt and exposing the fragility of the international legal order. Reflecting on how global health law will emerge in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be crucial to examine the lessons learned in the COVID-19 response and the reforms required to rebuild global health institutions while maintaining core values of human rights, rule of law, and global solidarity in the face of unprecedented threats.

Publication Citation

Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics (June 2020, Forthcoming)

Scholarly Commons Citation

Gostin, Lawrence O.; Habibi, Roojin; and Meier, Benjamin Mason, "Has Global Health Law Risen to Meet the COVID-19 Challenge? Revisiting the International Health Regulations to Prepare for Future Threats" (2020). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2264.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2264