Groningen Centre for Health Law

Health is increasingly in the spotlight since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and it made the importance of law increasingly visible. Legal questions that were commonly posed during the pandemic were, for instance, related to the competences of States to restrict freedoms of individuals, and a continuing discussion relates to a new pandemic accord for which negotiations will be resumed later this month.

Following the court decision regarding Roundup in the United States of America (US), the permissions for the use of agricultural pesticides and their impact on human health should be re-evaluated. How should this recent decision affect the EU’s practices?

During our last Aletta Dive we explored the underrepresentation of women in medical research and the resulting lack of understanding of the female body. This post explains why and how this is a matter of women’s rights, and what are the resulting obligations of the Dutch government to mend this gap.

In the US, many public health functions are decentralized to the governments of the 50 states, and the authority (or “competence”) of the federal government is limited by the US Constitution. The interaction between the US federal and state governments is an ever-present source of political and legal conflict, especially on issues such as reproductive health, immigration, the environment, and government regulation.

In this interview, Henriette Roscam Abbing tells us about her past career and reflects on the future of health law. This interview is the first publication from the series ‘Voices in the field,’ a joint endeavour by GHLG and IFHHRO.

The report titled “Quickscan Gezondheidszorg asielzoekerskinderen in Nederland” was commissioned and published by the UNICEF-led Working Group on Children in Asylum Seeker Centres (Werkgroep Kind in azc).

An investigation into the effects of tobacco control laws by a group of medical researchers sends an important message to law and policy makers. The study reveals that tighter tobacco control laws and policies, especially those introducing an extension of the smoke-free law to the hospitality industry, in combination with a tax increase and a public campaign, leads to less babies being born with low birth weight.

Does the right to health embrace claims to public health? And how should we exercise such claims? In international law there are many references to the protection of public health contrasting with other interests, including the interests of trade, commerce, intellectual property protection, transportation, and warfare.

Check out this newly published article written by Myriam Feinberg, Laura Niada-Avshalom & Brigit Toebes.

The recent Ebola crisis has caused approximately 11.000 deaths so far. Compared to other global health crises, including the deaths caused by armed conflicts and chronic diseases, this is still a small amount. Yet, from a global and domestic health law and governance perspective, this crisis raises a number of vital questions and challenges, which were also addressed during a recent SHARES debate organised by the University of Amsterdam.