New bedfellows: Health and the law find research home at UWI

The University of the West Indies at Cave Hill on Wednesday launched a new research and policy unit to strengthen the relationship between law and health and protect and promote health in writing new laws and public policy.

The Faculty of Law Health and Law Research Unit will allow for knowledge generation and awareness building in the law and health field. The UWI said it hopes to create a cadre of legal professionals who can provide technical support and advocacy on law and health and a pool of health professionals who appreciate the legal implications and limitations of their work.

The new unit will also be tasked with providing technical assistance to government and civil society on law and policy reform and implementation as well as possible strategic litigation. The Law and Health Research Unit, established with an initial grant of $280,000 (US$140,000) from the O’Neil Institute for National and Global Health Law, will begin its work by focusing on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Giving an overview of the unit at its launch in the Ralph Carnegie Lecture Theatre, Nicole Foster, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, noted that the unit is also intended to act as a hub for work by regional experts, advocates, and practitioners.

The unit will establish new research networks, regionally and internationally, thereby raising UWI’s global profile while helping to share CARICOM perspectives on global and regional public health challenges, she said.

Foster, who will be leading the unit said: “The timing of this launch could not be more relevant and urgent. Currently, NCDs are the leading cause of mortality, disease and disability in the Caribbean, representing almost eight out of every 10 deaths in the region, approximately one-third of which are among persons aged 30 to 70. The Caribbean sub-region also has the highest mortality from NCDs in the Americas and the highest rates of childhood overweight and obesity in the Americas.

“These sobering statistics are a wake-up call for us all, especially considering our COVID-19 experiences, and highlight the need for a redoubling of our efforts, and a commitment to making full use of all the tools at our disposal to win this battle. Law is one such powerful tool. Indeed, 10 of the 16 World Health Organizations (WHO) Best Buys require the effective use of law or regulation, and notably, these are precisely the interventions where our response has been the weakest to date.”

UWI Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Cave Hill Campus Principal Professor, the Most Honourable Eudine Barriteau indicated that the unit offers significant potential for the kind of interdisciplinary research necessary for the flourishing of scholarship. Barriteau said that without a doubt the unit will not only offer an obvious opportunity for lawyers and doctors to collaborate, but will also present opportunities for social scientists, and other scholars, with an interest in researching how the law may be applied to the human quest for healthier living.

The principal pointed out that legislation to ban smoking in public places, the implementation of seatbelt laws, and the current campaign for food labelling to ensure that citizens are adequately informed of what they consume, are examples of law and health working closely together.

Professor Barriteau, who welcomed the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) incoming Sub Regional Programme Director for the Caribbean Dean Chambliss, informed PAHO and colleagues in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, that through the unit, an annual joint legal and medical conference should be introduced to allow scholars from the legal and health sectors to meet to present their research and create new public health policies aimed at improving the quality of life and wellbeing in Caribbean societies.

Professor Barriteau said: “With the establishment of this Law and Health Research Unit, The University of the West Indies is underscoring its commitment to revitalizing and protecting Caribbean societies. Through recurring cycles of natural disasters, political change, economic growth, and periodic health crises, The UWI has been at the forefront of the search for solutions for recurring Caribbean health and other challenges.

“The existence of the Health and Law Research Unit at the Cave Hill Campus testifies to our willingness to tackle multidimensional issues in the region, and seek to stem the growing vulnerabilities of Caribbean countries to a range of health threats, particularly non-communicable diseases”.

During the opening ceremony, a mural in the Faculty of Law Students’ Common Room was also unveiled. The mural, created by Professor Alina Kaczorowska-Ireland, stands as a testament to the faculty’s commitment to student-centeredness as one of its core values, said Professor Barriteau. (AH)