Public Health Law & Policy

Catalog description

Focused on the use of law and policy tools to promote access to healthy living conditions as an important determinant of population health and community wellbeing. The course identifies priorities and opportunities for public health law and policy interventions that seek to characterize, prevent, and ameliorate risks to population health. We will examine the legal powers and duties of the state to ensure the conditions required for people to be healthy. Students discuss individual rights as limitations on the power of the state to act in furtherance of the common good. Through case studies and simulations on topics such as sexually transmitted infections, tobacco control, obesity, exposure to environmental hazards, and public health emergencies, students will engage in an experiential and problem-based study of law as a tool for promotion of population health, wellbeing, and equity.