This is a past event
Prof Brigit Toebes will be presenting her work related to access to medicine and health care costs in high income countries.
We are witnessing a number of serious challenges in relation to health including a change in disease patterns, some of which are lifestyle-related as well as increasing health inequalities within and between states. Additionally, many countries are struggling with the detrimental health effects of environmental degradation, climate change, international migration, urbanization and internal conflicts. This is affecting the health and wellbeing of individuals worldwide, especially those who are marginalised and disadvantaged.
Our guest speaker Prof Brigit Toebes will look at these issues, with a specific emphasis on the problems surrounding access to medicines. While this was typically a problem of Low and Middle Income Countries, High Income Countries now also increasingly struggle to meet the rising costs of healthcare.
Brigit Toebes specialises in public international law, human rights law and health law. Her research focuses on the role that international law can play in addressing a range of global health concerns. To facilitate this aim, she is involved in the design and definition of international or global health law, a new branch of public international law, and she has established Global Health Law Groningen, a Research Centre at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen.
In this presentation, she will talk about, among other concerns, the protection of economic, social and cultural rights (rights to medicines, educational materials, and rights to cultural expression) within the context of intellectual property protection, with a specific emphasis on access to essential medicines. She will draw from her recent work on access to essential medicines.
Brigit Toebes’ recent publications include:
· 't Hoen, E., Toebes, B., Perehudoff, K. &Abbott, F.M., Mar-2016, submission to the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel on Access to Medicines, http://www.rug.nl/research/portal/en/publications/submission-to-the-un-high-level-panel-on-access-to-medicines-by-the-global-health-law-committee-of-the-international-law-association(915c69b4-09a5-4e0e-9f7c-bf43f6b55300).html
· a commentary on the human rights approach to reimbursing expensive medicines. It was published in the Dec 2016 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation and is available here: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/94/12/15-166371.pdf?ua=1
· an article investigating governments' commitments in national constitutions to provide essential medicines. It appears in the June 2016 issue of the Health & Human Rights journal and is available here: https://cdn2.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/06/Perehudoff1.pdf
- Venue
- VC Suite, CR 3, University Office
- Contact
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Staff: Please bring your ID card as room is in restricted access building.
Non-staff: Please enter at reception and state that you will be attending this seminar.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr Catherine Ng c.w.ng@abdn.ac.uk