Globalization and Health Policy
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
Provide an organic framework of knowledge and interpretative tools relating to:
- The evolution of the right to health and its different variations from 1948 to today. Knowledge and understanding of the history of the WHO and of the changes that have occurred in the various periods, relating to the mission and characteristics of the organization.
- National health systems between pandemics and financial crises in the era of Covid-19.
- The actors that determine the spaces and limits for the real usability of the right to health in the era of globalization: from the Millennium Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The tools available to global civil society to improve their health. Learn to identify, in different social and cultural contexts, the various forces in the field that confront each other on health protection strategies.
- The social determinants that influence the living conditions of populations.
- The drug market between law and profit.
- The evolution of the right to health and its different variations from 1948 to today. Knowledge and understanding of the history of the WHO and of the changes that have occurred in the various periods, relating to the mission and characteristics of the organization.
- National health systems between pandemics and financial crises in the era of Covid-19.
- The actors that determine the spaces and limits for the real usability of the right to health in the era of globalization: from the Millennium Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The tools available to global civil society to improve their health. Learn to identify, in different social and cultural contexts, the various forces in the field that confront each other on health protection strategies.
- The social determinants that influence the living conditions of populations.
- The drug market between law and profit.
Expected learning outcomes
- Understanding of the role played by the various public and private actors in some of the most significant events that have occurred in the field of health at international level, in recent decades, through an analysis of the many divergent interests that exist.
- Understanding of the strategies used globally by social movements and activists to conquer and protect the right to health.
- By analyzing what is happening during the Coronavirus emergency and what has happened in the fight against AIDS from the 1980s to today at a global and national level, developing the ability to identify risks to public health deriving from discriminatory policies and misleading media campaigns.
- Understanding the role played by the International Trade Organization on pharmaceutical patents and the consequences on access to therapies. Knowledge of TRIPs agreements on drugs, of the strategies activated by Big Pharma in South Africa and India and of the current proposals by WHO to guarantee universal access to treatments.
- Ability to critically analyze and build one's own point of view on the international debate on drug policies.
- Understanding of the strategies used globally by social movements and activists to conquer and protect the right to health.
- By analyzing what is happening during the Coronavirus emergency and what has happened in the fight against AIDS from the 1980s to today at a global and national level, developing the ability to identify risks to public health deriving from discriminatory policies and misleading media campaigns.
- Understanding the role played by the International Trade Organization on pharmaceutical patents and the consequences on access to therapies. Knowledge of TRIPs agreements on drugs, of the strategies activated by Big Pharma in South Africa and India and of the current proposals by WHO to guarantee universal access to treatments.
- Ability to critically analyze and build one's own point of view on the international debate on drug policies.
Lesson period: First trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First trimester
Didactic methods
The lessons will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform and can be followed both synchronously according to the schedule expected in the first quarter and asynchronously because they will be recorded and left available to students on the same platform.
Further information will be available on the Ariel website
Program and reference material
The program and the reference material will not change.
From a technological point of view, it will be necessary to verify the possibility of involving some personalities who, under normal conditions, would have come to the classroom.
Based on the number of members, we will evaluate the possibility of doing group work during lesson hours.
The material used or indicated in class will be uploaded on the Ariel platform
Methods for verifying learning and evaluation criteria
The exam will take place orally using the Microsoft Teams platform or, where the regulations allow, in person; in this case the possibility of choosing the written test will be maintained, only for the December session, as would normally be the case.
If it is not possible to take the exam in person, the exam will be oral only even in December.
The methods for conducting the exam will remain the same as those provided for the "normal" course
If the regulations concerning social distancing allow it, some activities will be held in the presence approximately halfway through the course. The organization and methods of carrying out these activities will depend on how they can be concretely organized: how many meetings, if any, at what times, etc.
The lessons will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform and can be followed both synchronously according to the schedule expected in the first quarter and asynchronously because they will be recorded and left available to students on the same platform.
Further information will be available on the Ariel website
Program and reference material
The program and the reference material will not change.
From a technological point of view, it will be necessary to verify the possibility of involving some personalities who, under normal conditions, would have come to the classroom.
Based on the number of members, we will evaluate the possibility of doing group work during lesson hours.
The material used or indicated in class will be uploaded on the Ariel platform
Methods for verifying learning and evaluation criteria
The exam will take place orally using the Microsoft Teams platform or, where the regulations allow, in person; in this case the possibility of choosing the written test will be maintained, only for the December session, as would normally be the case.
If it is not possible to take the exam in person, the exam will be oral only even in December.
The methods for conducting the exam will remain the same as those provided for the "normal" course
If the regulations concerning social distancing allow it, some activities will be held in the presence approximately halfway through the course. The organization and methods of carrying out these activities will depend on how they can be concretely organized: how many meetings, if any, at what times, etc.
Course syllabus
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Health Service: the case of Lombardy. Public health vs private health: an indispensable cooperation or a relationship dangerous for our health?
The role of WHO from its birth to today.
The different actors in global health policies: institutional, commercial and social. Social determinants of health.
Access to medicines between rights and the market. Big Pharma vs. South Africa, Brazil and India.
International drug research and the Helsinki Declaration on ethics in pharmaceutical experimentation.
The case of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine.
Philips Morris vs Uruguay and the WHO Tobacco Convention.
The AIDS paradigm. Italian research on the AIDS vaccine.
The various experiences of activism for the defense of health in the world
Examples of international cooperation projects in the field of health.
From the Millennium Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals: opportunities and limits.
International drug conventions.
The role of WHO from its birth to today.
The different actors in global health policies: institutional, commercial and social. Social determinants of health.
Access to medicines between rights and the market. Big Pharma vs. South Africa, Brazil and India.
International drug research and the Helsinki Declaration on ethics in pharmaceutical experimentation.
The case of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine.
Philips Morris vs Uruguay and the WHO Tobacco Convention.
The AIDS paradigm. Italian research on the AIDS vaccine.
The various experiences of activism for the defense of health in the world
Examples of international cooperation projects in the field of health.
From the Millennium Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals: opportunities and limits.
International drug conventions.
Prerequisites for admission
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Teaching methods
Films and audiovisual material will be used to stimulate discussion, group work will be carried out and national and possibly international expert speakers will be invited
Teaching Resources
Reference material
Bibliography and other teaching materials for attending students:
· "Without breath - Senza respiro" an independent investigation into the Coronavirus pandemic in Lombardy, Italy Europe. V. Agnoletto. Ed. Altreconomia, 2020, in press
· "AIDS the scandal of the Italian vaccine - Lo scandalo del vaccino italiano" V.Agnoletto, C.Gnetti, ed. Feltrinelli, Milan 2012
· "WHO and right to health: what future" 5th Report of the Italian Observatory on Global Health, edited by Adriano Cattaneo and Nicoletta Dentico
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwAfVB4pT1t8cVdtNUxha3ZMTEk/view (only some chapters that will be indicated in class)
· Further articles will be eventually indicated and shared during the lessons.
Bibliography and other teaching materials for non-attending students:
· "Without breath - Senza respiro" an independent investigation into the Coronavirus pandemic in Lombardy, Italy Europe. V. Agnoletto. Ed. Altreconomia, 2020, in press
· "AIDS the scandal of the Italian vaccine - Lo scandalo del vaccino italiano" V.Agnoletto, C.Gnetti, Feltrinelli, Milan 2012
· "WHO and right to health: what future" 5th Report of the Italian Observatory on Global Health, edited by Adriano Cattaneo and Nicoletta Dentico
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwAfVB4pT1t8cVdtNUxha3ZMTEk/view
(only chapters 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9-11-14-15-16-17-23)
· The following articles about access to medicines, the Sofosbuvir case:
A "Inaccessible drugs? Crimes against humanity." Vittorio Bertele '& Silvio Garattini
https://www.ricercaepratica.it/r.php?v=1982&a=21452&l=32076&f=allegati/01982_2015_04/fulltext/01_editoriale.pdf
B Mandatory license. American style "Gavino Maciocco
https://www.saluteinternazionale.info/2016/09/epatite-c-licenza-obbligatoria-allamericana/
Bibliography and other teaching materials for attending students:
· "Without breath - Senza respiro" an independent investigation into the Coronavirus pandemic in Lombardy, Italy Europe. V. Agnoletto. Ed. Altreconomia, 2020, in press
· "AIDS the scandal of the Italian vaccine - Lo scandalo del vaccino italiano" V.Agnoletto, C.Gnetti, ed. Feltrinelli, Milan 2012
· "WHO and right to health: what future" 5th Report of the Italian Observatory on Global Health, edited by Adriano Cattaneo and Nicoletta Dentico
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwAfVB4pT1t8cVdtNUxha3ZMTEk/view (only some chapters that will be indicated in class)
· Further articles will be eventually indicated and shared during the lessons.
Bibliography and other teaching materials for non-attending students:
· "Without breath - Senza respiro" an independent investigation into the Coronavirus pandemic in Lombardy, Italy Europe. V. Agnoletto. Ed. Altreconomia, 2020, in press
· "AIDS the scandal of the Italian vaccine - Lo scandalo del vaccino italiano" V.Agnoletto, C.Gnetti, Feltrinelli, Milan 2012
· "WHO and right to health: what future" 5th Report of the Italian Observatory on Global Health, edited by Adriano Cattaneo and Nicoletta Dentico
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwAfVB4pT1t8cVdtNUxha3ZMTEk/view
(only chapters 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9-11-14-15-16-17-23)
· The following articles about access to medicines, the Sofosbuvir case:
A "Inaccessible drugs? Crimes against humanity." Vittorio Bertele '& Silvio Garattini
https://www.ricercaepratica.it/r.php?v=1982&a=21452&l=32076&f=allegati/01982_2015_04/fulltext/01_editoriale.pdf
B Mandatory license. American style "Gavino Maciocco
https://www.saluteinternazionale.info/2016/09/epatite-c-licenza-obbligatoria-allamericana/
Assessment methods and Criteria
Single exam. Oral examination. For those who wish, in the December session alone, it will be possible to choose between the oral or written exam. Marked vote out of thirty. The exam for attending students provides the opportunity to present a short written report about one of the topics covered during the lessons or about the result of a previously agreed group activity. The modalities for the preparation and presentation of these works will be illustrated during the course. The interview, or written questions (for those who choose this exam method in the December session), will focus on the topics covered during the lessons and about any written report prepared by the student.
The exam for non-attending students will focus about the topics covered in the texts and articles indicated.
The evaluation will take into account the active participation in the lessons (for attending students), the accuracy of the answers to the exam questions, the ability to critically illustrate their arguments and to identify the connections between the different topics covered.
The exam for non-attending students will focus about the topics covered in the texts and articles indicated.
The evaluation will take into account the active participation in the lessons (for attending students), the accuracy of the answers to the exam questions, the ability to critically illustrate their arguments and to identify the connections between the different topics covered.
Professor(s)