UvA News

Photographer: Nieke Martens - Anniek de Ruijter appointed professor of Health Law and Policy She used to want to work in theater, but her career took a different direction: Anniek de Ruijter was appointed professor of Health Law and Policy at the UvA last September. She is keen to investigate how we can measure the effect of law on health. She also wants to make a case for experiential education at the Amsterdam Law School. 'Disease and death are part of life, and no one has a right to eternal health', says De Ruijter. Still, we want to do everything we can to ensure that we protect and promote health, both for individuals, and for the population as a whole.' But at what cost? And how does this relate to other priorities, such as self-determination and freedom, the protection of the rule of law, or the right to education. 'During the outbreak of corona, you could clearly see these dilemma's play out: on the one hand, the government wants to do everything it can to prevent the spread of the virus, but on the other hand, they cannot just close the schools indefinitely.' In addition to these questions, the actual effect of law and policy on people's health is also central to De Ruijter's research. 'In the process of health legislation there is often the presumption that these rules will promote health, but how do we actually ascertain this?' This requires groundbreaking interdisciplinary research and new research frameworks that include law and policy as a social determinant. For example, during corona-outbreak, rules were aimed at helping people with an acute infection, but what about the collateral of these rules on health?