USALI Faculty Director José E. Alvarez said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has not taken seriously individual rights to health. He spoke during a panel discussion at the annual American Society of International Law (ASIL) meeting held in Washington D.C. in April 2022.

Instead, the WHO has focused on balancing state rights, preventing the entry of foreign diseases, and protecting free trade, said Alvarez. “This in my view needs to change and COVID shows us dramatically why,” he said. Watch the recording of the panel, “The New State of Emergency: Individuals and International Law,” organized by the Japanese Society of International Law, below:

By Jessica Chin