EPM5023 Foundations of international health

This unit is about the international frameworks that influence health at a local level.

The unit seeks to provide students with an understanding of international mechanisms that have an impact on health, including how they are created, their content, the kind of strong or weak influence they exert over governments, mechanisms of enforcement, and the problems and benefits presented by these different mechanisms.

The unit begins by considering the emergence of "tropical medicine" as a colonial specialty and the lasting influence of this on health and approaches to it in low and middle-income countries.

The concept of development and the role of public international law will be introduced as a background to policymaking by international agencies as it affects health.

This may include, for example, the role of the World Health Organization, the International Health Regulations, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the impact of international trade and investment institutions including the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and IMF, human rights, disarmament, and the Sustainable Development Goals.