Strengthening Human Rights in Global Health Law: Lessons from the COVID-19 Response

This column addresses the need to strengthen human rights in global health, looking to violations of human rights law in the pandemic response to recommend rights-based reforms in global health law. The column opens by examining the fundamental importance of human rights, recognizing the centrality of human rights in global health governance. Notwithstanding the evolution of health-related human rights under international law, the COVID-19 pandemic response has posed sweeping implications for the realization of human rights, with state responses failing to comply with their domestic and international human rights obligations. Raising an imperative to strengthen human rights in global health law, this column presents recommendations to advance health through the United Nations (UN) human rights system, extend human rights in revisions of the International Health Regulations (IHR), and mainstream human rights in WHO governance.