The Foundations on which International Health Legislation is Built

Health-related legal rules, norms, and other (non-binding) standards can also be found in many other branches of international law, including international humanitarian and environmental laws, medical ethics, and patients' rights. (“INTERNATIONAL LAW ASSOCIATION - Frederick M. Abbott”) International health law is a branch of international law that brings together accepted international standard-setting tools in the context of WHO and human rights law. International health law also recognizes the rights of patients. In addition, many agreements such as the Trade Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (also known as the TRIPS Agreement) ratified by the World Trade Organization have an indirect impact on human health (WTO). To fully grasp this emerging topic, we need to take an integrated consideration of discoveries from other disciplines related to it. As WHO is the primary global intergovernmental health organization, the standardsetting tools approved within its framework deserve at least some of the attention currently given to them. In fact, there are a significant number of opportunities for WHO to use such tools. Articles 19, 21 and 23 of the WHO Statutes, in their appropriate order, allow the adoption of three different types of instruments: conventions, rules and recommendations exist . These provisions are contained in the WHO Constitution. However, as will be shown in the following paragraphs, despite the enormous normative capabilities of WHO up to this point, only a small part of the organization's standard-setting potential has been used. According to Aginam , who’s activities have, for most of its history, been controlled by professionals in the medical and public health fields who put little emphasis on the process of establishing standards-setting tools.