Human Rights Limitations in World Health Organization Reforms: Strengthening Human Rights Obligations in Global Health Law to Ensure Global Health Equity

Human rights have served as a central normative framework for global health law, with the World Health Organization (WHO) providing a foundation to implement human rights law through global health governance. In implementing human rights obligations, WHO has sought to bring human rights into its normative standard-setting to promote health equity – within and between countries. Yet, WHO faced challenges in realizing human rights to ensure equity in the COVID-19 response, as its Member States violated individual rights and undermined global solidarity. Despite this imperative to strengthen human rights as a foundation for global health equity, recent reforms have failed to advance human rights meaningfully in global health law, as WHO Member States weakened necessary human rights provisions. This contribution examines new opportunities to strengthen human rights in global health, ensuring systemic integration across international legal regimes and human rights operationalization in the implementation of global health law.