Advancing rights-based access to COVID vaccines as part of universal health coverage
Access to safe and effective vaccines is crucial for achieving universal health coverage under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensuring the human right to health. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted disparities in vaccine access, especially in low and middle-income countries, posing significant challenges to UHC and global pandemic control.
This project aims to address these disparities by examining the legal determinants of the global vaccine gap and proposing legal solutions. It brings together international experts in human rights law and global health policy to conduct interdisciplinary research on the role of human rights in advancing access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The research focuses on two key questions:
- How can human rights, particularly the right to health, be leveraged to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines?
- How can this knowledge be implemented to ensure equitable access, with Uganda as a case study?
Currently, under this project, the Global Health and Human Rights Training Program (GHRP) is based at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, in partnership with the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, the University of Warwick, the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development in Uganda, and the Global Health Law Consortium in Canada. This program offers unique international training opportunities for students and contributes to the development of new academic programs in public health and law at the University of Toronto.
Highlights
The Global Health and Human Rights Training Program is an interdisciplinary international initiative offering annual one-year fellowships to six graduate students conducting relevant research in the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and Warwick University Faculty of Law.
It caters to diverse student aspirations, from engaging in directed research on global health and human rights topics with the goal of producing a publishable scholarly paper, to gaining field-level experience by assisting with litigation or public health research under the supervision of experts at the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development in Uganda.
Hadijah's visit
Under this program, Hadijah Namyalo-Ganafa, a PhD student at the University of Warwick, collaborated with Afya na Haki in Kampala, Uganda, to explore the intersections of health, law, and policy-making.
Partners
