Several members of the Consortium joined a Conference at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, titled ´Global and European Health Governance and Law: A Contested Road.´ This offered the opportunity to engage with policy- and decision-makers, including members of the German Parliament, the European Commission, the German Federal Ministries of Health, Economic Cooperation and Development, and Education and Research, and the Robert Koch Institute; as well as representatives of academia and civil society, with the latter including Doctors without Borders, the Global Antibiotics Research and Development Partnership, among others. The Conference was followed the next day by a breakfast with members of the German Parliament, who engaged in an in-depth dialogue with members of the Consortium.

The New Horizons of Global, European and Comparative Health Law

The Max Planck Law Initiative on Law, Health, and the Life Sciences convened a major workshop, ‘The New Horizons of Global, European and Comparative Health Law’, on 2 and 3 December 2024 at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW). The event brought together more than thirty scholars from diverse career stages and academic institutions across a dozen countries, including representatives from three Max Planck Law Institutes: MPI-HEIDELBERG MPI-MUNICH (SOCIAL LAW) MPI-BONN. Over one and a half days, participants exchanged insights and shared their ongoing research and activities in multiple areas of health law.

Discussions spanned an impressive array of topics, such as the emergence of new norms in global health law, the growth of regional health law across the globe, and comparative assessments of healthcare systems. Attendees also addressed the limits of human rights approaches in achieving global health justice and the role of legal multi-stakeholder partnerships in health governance. Feedback during the lively panel sessions was particularly insightful, providing significant value to all participants .

Concluding the event, a public panel discussion took place entitled ‘Global Health Governance, Law and Justice: An Unfinished Agenda’, featuring the distinguished scholars Lawrence Gostin (Georgetown University), Alicia Ely Yamin (Harvard University), Ilona Kickbusch (Geneva Graduate Institute), and Gian Luca Burci (Geneva Graduate Institute).

The panelists tackled some of the most pressing global health challenges, including the potential implications of the US Presidential election on health law, the international backlash against sexual and reproductive health rights, and the profound geopolitical transformations reshaping global health governance. Key discussions also addressed the implications of the latter for multilateral initiatives, such as the amended International Health Regulations and the proposed pandemic agreement in Geneva.

The workshop and public panel underscored Max Planck Law’s role in enabling its Initiatives to drive important academic exchange. Through this event, the Initiative on Law, Health, and the Life Sciences was able to establish invaluable connections with leading international scholars. Building on this momentum, the Initiative plans to host similar events in future, with new partnerships with other Initiatives already in the pipeline.