International Public Health Law and Security
Module summary
This module is designed to consider legal and ethical challenges around public health, at each of the national, regional and international levels. It is less concerned with the nature and scope of the individual doctor/patient relationship and more concerned with community or communitarian considerations, such as protecting and promoting public health, responding to global threats to health, facilitating and governing research in the public interest, and balancing private and public interests within the dominant human rights paradigm which has taken on global significance in recent years.
The module comprises 10 sessions, divided over five major themes:
- Public Health Law and Policy
- Public Health Determinants and Responses
- New Public Health Tools and Privacy
- Public Health Aspects of Medical Research
- Public Health and Commercialisation
Session titles
- The International Public Health Environment
- Public Health and Responsive Medicine - Risks and Measures
- Public Health and Preventative Medicine - Objectives and Politics
- Public Health and Crises - Emergencies and Security
- Bio-informatics & Biometrics
- International Sharing Arrangements and Data Protection
- Biobanks
- Regulation of Medical Research in European and the US
- Clinical Research and Developing Countries
- Commercialisation of Public Health Research
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module you will be able to:
- articulate and comment critically on the fundamental legal and ethical principles, and the political limitations, that inform and influence modern public health;
- understand public health ethics and how these contrast with more traditional patient-centred ethics;
- understand the particular challenges of public health management at each of the national, regional and international levels;
- critically evaluate the role of international institutions on the realisation of public health, both domestically and internationally;
- effectively assess current systems of healthcare promotion and protection and the limitations and challenges they face, including human competition and conflict.
Assessment
One essay, 5000 words (60%), one or more pieces of assessed course work (20%), participation in online activity (20%).
