Global Health Norms

Abstract

This chapter, “Global Health Norms,” analyzes the normative frameworks that bring together actors in global health law and policy. These norms are being framed by international agreements between states and global policies among state and non-state actors, providing a foundation for structuring partnerships across global health actors. As the justification for global health initiatives, these ethical bases for social justice in global health frame global health governance, looking to normative frameworks for collective action, basic survival needs, global equity, and human rights. The United Nations (UN) system has specifically looked to human rights in providing legal norms for global health, framing health disparities as rights violations and codifying government obligations to realize rights. Drawing from an expanding “health and human rights” movement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has worked to incorporate human rights law in global health policy, beginning in the early years of the HIV/AIDS response and expanding to encompass a wide range of health challenges. Global governance now looks to mainstream human rights in global health, and a wide range of actors now incorporate notions of justice, equity, and rights as a basis to decolonize global health and bring together partnerships to advance health throughout the world.