COVID-19, global health and International law: a first approach of institutional nature

Abstract

This study constitutes a first and urgent approach to the some of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in International Law, with its multiple health, economic and social consequences. The study, after referring to global health and the globalization of health, is primarily concerned with the review of the work of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the face of the pandemic. This review critically assesses the lack of leadership and political impetus in the face of a health crisis of unprecedented magnitude. It also reviews the outcome of the World Health Assembly held on 18-19 May 2020 and devoted exclusively to the COVID-19, in a context of political competition and criticism of WHO's management of the emergency and with the announcement of the United States withdrawal.