Introduction: Global Health Challenges and the Role of Law

Abstract

This paper is an introductory article to a special issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics on Global Health Challenges and the Role of Law. The issue contains papers that result from an international conference organized by the authors in Toronto in the spring of 2012. In these papers, various Canadian, American, and international health law and health policy scholars explore how law has made, or could make, a difference in the context of a wide variety of global health related issues and challenges. The contributors focus on topics such as: public health and chronic diseases; vulnerable populations and health; international trade and health; health and human rights; global regulation of pharmaceuticals; obesity; tobacco control; assisted human reproduction; and medical tourism. In this introductory article, Colleen Flood and Trudo Lemmens sketch the major themes and issues evoked in the various contributions to the special issue and reflect on the role of law in the context of global health.

Keywords: Global Health, Health Law, Medical Law, Public Health, Right to Health, Health Policy, Health and International Trade

JEL Classification: F13, H41, I00, I11, I18