I am glad to present this publication, Fundamentals of health law in Uganda. I wrote my Doctor of Laws (LLD) thesis on maternal health rights in Uganda. During the period of conducting research, I realised the importance of teaching a health law course at university. Dr Esther Kisakye, then a senior lecturer at the School of Law, Makerere University and now a judge of the Supreme Court of Uganda, and I started a Health and the law course at the school. As an elective, the course has been popular: it attracts a big fraction of the fourth year LLB students every year. Indeed a good number of our former students who offered the course have used the knowledge and skills acquired to advocate for health law and policy reform. Some have established Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) engaged in health and human rights advocacy. However, both my former and current students have always complained of a lack of a local text on health law. Thus, this book is my humble response to these complaints. The goal of this book is to examine health law within the broader legal and policy frameworks with a bearing on human health. Health law is a multi-disciplinary field that covers the relationship between law and health and teases out critical legal and ethical issues concerning public health and health care. It stresses the crucial role played by law in the protection of health, which is critical for an active and productive life. A question that may be asked by a potential reader of the book is: why a book on health law? Although certain courses such as constitutional law, human rights, international law, environmental law, and the law of torts, which are offered in universities and other institutions of higher learning, contain topics with a bearing on health, health law as a distinct subject is relatively young in Uganda. In spite of the growing recognition of the important role played by law in the promotion of good health, there is no specific book addressing the interface between health and the law in the Ugandan context. The few available books and other relevant materials are foreign in the sense that they cover British, American, Canadian, Australian and other settings outside Uganda. In my view, there is a need for a local book, which may act as a reference for students of health law. It is hoped that the book will be helpful to students and staff of the schools, faculties and institutes of Law, Public Health, and Medicine in Uganda. The book will also be a critical source of information for health professionals, CSOs, practicing lawyers, policy makers, legislators, activists and all people whose interest is in law, health and human rights. The book is meant for both legal and non-legal audiences. It is hoped that the book will serve a broad range of people who are passionate about human health. Given that the book only tackles fundamentals of health law in the country, I welcome constructive criticism so that in future I will be able to expand on it.

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