Groningen Centre for Health Law

On 24 January 2017, Prof. Brigit Toebes will give a guest lecture on Refugees & the Right to Health – Challenges for Amnesty International. Please feel free to join us!

The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) has released a new report on the health situation in Syria. Titled The Failure of UN Security Council Resolution 2286 in Preventing Attacks on Healthcare in Syria, this report documents 172 attacks on medical facilities and personnel from June through December 2016, using first-hand testimony and photo documentation from physicians and health workers in Syria.

Between 12 and 16 January 2017 the Learning Community Global Health of UMCG organises for students, staff and interested professionals a series of presentations of interest for people who want to know more about developments in global health. We are also happy that the new professor Global Reproductive Health, Prof Jelle Stekelenburg, will give his inaugural lecture this week.

The PhD research examines the national implementation of the right to health with a particular focus on Greece. For this reason, the research builds upon two interconnected parts, Part I and Part II. Part I seeks to identify the primary standards deriving from the right to health on the basis of human rights law by employing evidence from various sources: The UN, Council of Europe and human rights doctrine. Part II is a case study examining the Greek context relating to the right to health whilst considering the particular challenges within Greece such as, economic austerity.

De overheid moet actief ingrijpen om nieuwe geneesmiddelen betaalbaar te maken, schrijven Ellen ‘t Hoen cum suis. Maak gebruik van dwanglicenties en beloon een bedrijf als het een noodzakelijk geneesmiddel (bijvoorbeeld antibiotica) ontwikkelt.

On 14-15 November 2016, the Global Health Law Groningen Research Centre has the pleasure of hosting the ‘EU-Sino Health Law Symposium’ in Groningen. This Symposium will be a joint effort of the University of Groningen (NL) and the Central South University (China). The Symposium will bring together a group of experts from China, the Netherlands and Germany to present findings and trends in international/national health law, policy and research.

The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health will present his annual report to the General Assembly in New York on 25th of October 2016.

Call for Abstracts

On 14 September 2016, the Court in The Hague ruled that the possibility to smoke in designated smoking areas in publicly accessible places is in line with Article 8(2) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (hereafter: FCTC). This provision states that State Parties to the FCTC shall adopt, as determined by national law, and actively promote ‘measures, providing for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public transport, indoor public places and, as appropriate, other public places’. According to the Court, Article 8(2) of the FCTC lacks ‘direct effect’ in the Dutch legal order in the sense of Article 94 of the Dutch Constitution. This, contrary to the ruling of the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) on 14 October 2014, where Article 8(2) FCTC was declared to have ‘direct effect’.

The UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines published its report on 14 September. The Panel was established on 19 November 2015 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to “review and assess proposals and recommend solutions for remedying the policy incoherence between the justifiable rights of inventors, international human rights law, trade rules and public health in the context of health technologies”. The Panel’s report offers recommendations to ensure that new medicines to address unmet needs are developed and that these medicines are affordable to all. A recurrent theme of the Panel’s report is the need for stronger public leadership and less reliance on the market, in particular in the area of innovation.