Looking for a thesis topic for 2016-2017? Interested in the crossroads of health, human rights, and policy? The Global Health Law Groningen Research Centre is accepting a Masters thesis student for the multidisciplinary topic Access to medicines in Europe: A human rights approach to medicines reimbursement.

About the research: Medicines affordability is a decisive factor in universal access. The right to health under international law obliges governments to take measures to provide essential medicines according to the principles of equality and non-discrimination and attention to vulnerable groups, by progressively increasing and effectively using resources. European countries have established national reimbursement policies to publicly finance medicines based on several criteria, including the patient’s profile and the nature of the condition and the treatment. However, in light of the high prices of some essential, new medicines for Hepatitis C and cancer, difficult decisions must be made about which medicines to reimburse and for whom, and the question arises: To what extent do national reimbursement policies in Europe embrace a human rights approach?

What your research will entail: You will conduct a literature search to understand what is known about how European reimbursement policies adhere to human rights principles and which methods can be used to survey reimbursement policies. You will design a survey tool to test this research question and use it to collect data from a network of reimbursement authorities. From your analysis of the data, you will draw conclusions about to what extent national reimbursement policies in Europe operationalise human rights principles.If you are interested in this thesis topic, please contact Katrina Perehudoff (katrina.perehudoff-at-gmail.com) as soon as possible with a brief explanation of your interest.