Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow Lecture
Health Law and Ethics Network, in association with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health held the 2022 Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow Lecture on Reforming Global Governance to Manage Pandemics of the Future. This lecture provided a unique opportunity to hear from one of the world’s leading global health law experts, Gian Luca Burci (former Legal Counsel of the World Health Organization), on crucial governance issues that must be addressed at the international level.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed flaws in the legal and institutional frameworks for preventing and responding to the spread of diseases. COVID-19 has tested many fields of international law and policy from health, human rights and trade, to transport and financial stability.
The COVID-19 disruption has generated discussions about the need for stronger legal tools for pandemic prevention and containment, including through the World Health Organization (WHO). It has led us to rethink how life-saving medical interventions including vaccines are developed, manufactured and allocated. The pandemic’s impact has demonstrated the need to develop global mechanisms to guarantee financing for critical public health and medical interventions.
Listen to an interview with Jon Vaine AM
While visiting Melbourne Law School as a Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow, international health law expert Professor Gian Luca Burci spoke with Jon Faine AM on what Australia and the world got right and wrong during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how we can be better prepared for the next global health crisis.
About the speaker
Gian Luca Burci is Adjunct Professor of international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva since 2012. He is also the Director of the joint LLM on Global Health Law and Governance between the Graduate Institute and Georgetown Law School, as well as Academic Adviser in the Global Health Centre of the Graduate Institute. Before his appointment at the Graduate Institute, Gian Luca Burci served in the Legal Office of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2016 and was its Legal Counsel from 2005 to 2016.