NALSAR Student Law Review will be hosting its inaugural symposium on the theme of ‘Law and Public Health’ at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad on the 16th-17th of February, 2019. The interdisciplinary symposium will bring together experts and practitioners from diverse backgrounds, including senior government officials, policy analysts, academicians, researchers, and medical professionals. We would be grateful if you could share information on the same on your platforms. Here are the details of the event:
Background
Law plays an important role in shaping society, enabling us to articulate rights and realise societal aspirations. Public health focuses on the health, safety and well-being of a population, striving to provide the maximum benefit for the largest number of people through interdisciplinary engagement to evolve solutions. Public health considers a wide view of health, going beyond physical health to include issues ranging from mental health and violence to health inequity and universal access to health coverage. Government proposals in the past have been inadequate in addressing the dynamic factors behind poor health. In the context of law’s role in improving access to healthcare, there has been a growing movement to see the right to health as a fundamental right in the developing world, ensuring that the government prioritises actualising universal health care. While the National Health Policy 2017 falls short of recognising health as a fundamental right, it advocates a progressive, assurance-based approach to universal health coverage.
The 1st NSLR Symposium hopes to improve the visibility and effectiveness of law as a tool to protect and promote public health in India from a human rights perspective. To this end, the symposium encourages individuals from law, medicine, public policy, development studies and other disciplines to engage with law and public health, with an emphasis on looking for ways to bridge the gap between research and policy.
Sessions and Speakers
There are four panel discussion and two special lectures spread over two days. The following is a list of the tentative speakers for the respective sessions.
Panel Discussion I – Law, Gender and Public Health: Evolving a Legal Framework to Confront Gender-Based Violence from a Health Systems Perspective
- Amita Pitre, a senior consultant with expertise in gender justice and public health.
- Dipika Jain, Associate Professor, Associate Dean (Academic Affairs) and the Executive Director of the Centre for Health Law, Ethics and Technology at Jindal Global Law School, India.
- Mrinal Satish, Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Law, Policy, and Governance at National Law University, Delhi.
- Sreeparna Chattopadhyay, Senior Research Scientist and Associate Professor at the Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity and Social Determinants of Health.
- Vyjanti Vasanta Mogli, transgender activist and founding member of the Telangana Hijra Transgender Samiti.
Panel Discussion II – Law, Technology and Public Health: The Privacy Implications of the Storage and Use of Electronic Health Records
For more details, refer 1st NSLR Symposium on Law and Public Health – Concept Note