Madeline E. Koengeter, Improving Global Health Inequity Through Access to Justice: Proposed Framework on Health Justice Partnerships, 41 Wis. Int'l L. J. 641 (2024).
Over the years, the United Nations and the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) have established numerous goals and programs that pri-oritize the right to highest attainable level of health. Unfortunately, inequities around the world continue to prevent individuals from ac-tualizing this right. Effective governance mechanisms organizing these goals and programs are lacking. This Comment discusses the use of one specific solution, health justice partnerships (HJPs), that may effectively fill the structural gap in international health govern-ance. Health justice partnerships utilize cross-disciplinary advocacy to coordinate efforts and collectively remedy individual health ob-stacles. Tracking patterns of inequity, they then serve as channels for policy advocates to create lasting change. By incorporating this model in a new WHO Convention, international governance will be more informed by individuals’ voices which will, in turn, better ad-dress health inequities globally. HJPs may strengthen the network of existing UN programs and operationalize health equity goals through increasing access to justice. This Comment adds to current discourse on the use of HJPs by explaining how they serve as effec-tive governance mechanisms, how they fit into the broader WHO legal framework, and how they will require national buy-in and funding to be effective.
