Forever Keele 11
School of Law
academic launches
Covid-19 research
project and module
School of Law lecturer Dr Mark Eccleston-Turner writes about the new Covid-19
research project and module
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic,
the School of Law has launched a new
AHRC funded research project, and a
postgraduate module examining the
impact the pandemic has had on law,
policy, and practice.
“Assessing the viability of access
and benefit-sharing models of
equitable distribution of vaccines
in international law” is an Arts and
Humanities Research Council funded
project, which will focus on how a
vaccine might be fairly and equitably
distributed around the world, if one is
developed. Although a vaccine is an
integral part of every nation’s response
to Covid-19, it is not yet clear how
or whether this would be distributed
fairly and equitably around the world,
with previous pandemics highlighting
the problems this can cause. One
such case was the Swine Flu (H1N1)
pandemic of 2009, where developing
countries were reliant on donations
from wealthy countries to gain access
to the vaccine.
Launching the project, Dr. Mark
Eccleston-Turner said: “Developing
countries may not have access to a
Covid-19 vaccine without some sort
of a governance framework guiding
international allocation being put in
place. That is what has happened
in previous pandemics – such as
the 2009-H1N1 pandemic. Wealthy
countries dominated procurement
of pandemic influenza vaccine, and
developing countries only got access
to the vaccine much later on in the
pandemic, when it is less effective,
and in much smaller doses. This
is poor public health, and it is poor
multilateralism. It is morally wrong to
think that someone has a stronger
claim to a vaccine because they
happen to live in a rich country.”
The project will examine international
efforts to ensure the fair and equitable
distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine,
if one is developed. The project will
culminate in an event in Geneva during
the 2021 World Health Assembly,
where the findings of the project
will be presented to member states
representatives, the World Health
Organisation (WHO), and nongovernmental
organisations.
Dr Eccleston-Turner also leads the
new postgraduate module “Covid-19
in law, policy, and practice”. The
Covid-19 pandemic is a unique
challenge for law, ethics, and policy
in the United Kingdom, as well as the
wider international law system. It has
impacted a vast array of issues within
public life including human rights,
criminal justice, the Constitution, as
well as the clear impact upon health
and healthcare ethics. In many ways,
the pandemic has challenged much of
the traditional thinking and discourse in
each of these areas.
Dr Eccleston-Turner said on launching
the module “the Covid-19 pandemic
is not just a health issue. It is a legal
one, a political one, and ultimately
represents one of the biggest
challenges to law and politics since the
Second World War. It has impacted
every aspect of society, in ways we
could not envisaged. Our new module
in ‘Covid-19 in law, policy, and practice’
introduces students to the unique
challenges Covid-19 has presented
to society, and allows them to benefit
from the most up-to-date teaching in
this rapidly unfolding area of law and
ethics.”
The module aims to enhance the
students’ understanding of the impact,
and unique challenges the Covid-19
pandemic has had on areas of law,
policy and practice. The module will
enhance the students’ understanding
and appreciation for legal and ethical
problems through the lens of this
unique, contemporary problem.