International Cooperation in Healthcare

 Mr. Chirag Sharma*

Healthcare and medicine have disproportionally affected governance and International Relations concerns recently due to the massive impact of the pandemic and the issues arising from it. The pandemic has also demonstrated the importance of countries collectively working towards ensuring healthcare cooperation and working on the development of facilities and medicine. It has shown how healthcare issues are to be carefully dealt with keeping in the mind the snowball effect of medical conditions and emergencies. This article will deal with issues of international healthcare cooperation apart from the pandemic, and the future of global public health.

International Cooperation on health is much wider in scope than simple medicine and technical issues, it encompasses issues of international law, trade patterns, conflict zones, geopolitics, long-term alliances, etc. This is due to the dynamics of the health issues affecting people in contemporary times. Most of these health issues are complex to solve due to the barriers of inter-state relations and in some cases, healthcare denial is even used as a tool of subjugation and leverage.

This cooperation is especially important in light of the fact that the right to health is considered a fundamental right under international law. Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights specifically codify this right and discuss of its importance. General Comment no. 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights take this further by codifying the right as a right to the highest attainable standard of health.

*Author is final year student of BA (H) International Relations in AIIS. 

Full Article at: CPRG India