The Human Right to Equal Access to Health Care


Book Description

The right to equal access to health care is a fundamental principle that is part of human rights. For victims of a violation of the right to equal access to health care, it is important that a judicial or quasi-judicial human rights body can adjudicate their complaints in this regard. Justiciability contributes to the protection and realization of the right to equal access to health care and further determines the meaning of this right. The justiciability of the human right to equal access to health care is complex. It is one of the economic, social, and cultural rights, and ever since the emergence of these rights, their justiciability has been a contentious issue. Moreover, in practice, it is much more difficult for an alleged violation of an economic, social, or cultural right to be subject of review by a court of law or a quasi-judicial procedure than it is for a civil or political right. Nevertheless, over the last two decades, several developments have strengthened the justiciability of rights. This book analyzes the justiciability of the human right to equal access to health care. It examines how cases concerning unequal access to health care would be dealt with by judicial and quasi-judicial human rights bodies and distills the elements that can be expected to play a role in the assessment of such cases. First, the book provides for an extensive analysis of the legal framework of the right to equal access to health care, its entitlements, and the corresponding State obligations. Subsequently, it addresses what arguments are brought forward and how such rights are adjudicated in practice by the various judicial and quasi-judicial human rights bodies. Furthermore, the case law of three human rights bodies - the European Committee of Social Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Human Rights Committee - is examined in detail in order to analyze how these bodies assess cases concerning discrimination and how elements of economic, social, and cultural rights are taken into account under the various equality and non-discrimination provisions. Finally, the different criteria and elements that can be expected to play a role in the justiciability of cases are presented. (Series: School of Human Rights Research - Vol. 53)




The Human Right to Health (Norton Global Ethics Series)


Book Description

“A broad-ranging, insightful analysis of the complex practical and ethical issues involved in global health.”—Kirkus Reviews Few topics in human rights have inspired as much debate as the right to health. Proponents would enshrine it as a fundamental right on a par with freedom of speech and freedom from torture. Detractors suggest that the movement constitutes an impractical over-reach. Jonathan Wolff cuts through the ideological stalemate to explore both views. In an accessible, persuasive voice, he explores the philosophical underpinnings of the idea of a human right, assesses whether health meets those criteria, and identifies the political and cultural realities we face in attempts to improve the health of citizens in wildly different regions. Wolff ultimately finds that there is a path forward for proponents of the right to health, but to succeed they must embrace certain intellectual and practical changes. The Human Right to Health is a powerful and important contribution to the discourse on global health.




Communities in Action


Book Description

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.







Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act


Book Description

Section 1557 is the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This brief guide explains Section 1557 in more detail and what your practice needs to do to meet the requirements of this federal law. Includes sample notices of nondiscrimination, as well as taglines translated for the top 15 languages by state.




Human Rights


Book Description

Focusing on highly topical issues such as torture, arbitrary detention, privacy, and discrimination, this book will help readers to understand for themselves the controversies and complexities behind human rights.




Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health


Book Description

Named a 2013 Doody's Core Title! "With great timing, the editors of Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health offer a targeted and innovative strategy to combat global health problems. Balanced, comprehensive, and steeped in the historical traditions of human rights, the book persuasively moves the reader from abstract conceptions of inalienable human rights to evidence-based, pragmatic solutions that highlight the systematic integration of human rights principles in human development work."--PsycCRITIQUES "The human rights framework as eloquently described in this book offers a new way for us to think about how we approach our work: from deciding when and how to intervene, to how we plan, the goals we establish, and the metrics we use to gauge the success of our efforts. Public health instructors will find many of the chapters useful for illustrating, in very concrete ways, the link between human rights and public health, providing students (and practitioners) with a new framework for analyzing public health topics and for designing and evaluating interventions. Ultimately, civil rights and civil liberties are only of value when exercised. This book will contribute to the advance of human rights by leading increasing numbers of public health practitioners to advocate for, and promote, their realization."Score: 95, 4 stars --Doody's Medical Reviews "Rights Based Approaches to Public Health provides a new perspective on addressing public health problems. It is an evidence based and cutting edge approach that provides important insights into solving ethical dilemmas. It is essential reading for anyone interested in ensuring health equity and justice." Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP Executive Director of the American Public Health Association "At root, those working in health and human rights are both animated by a similar concern: the well-being of individuals and populations. The book will be an invaluable asset to both communities as they work to achieve their common goal." From the foreword by Paul Hunt UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health (2002-2008) Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health presents a variety of public health professionals who utilize rights-based approaches in their work, the challenges they face, and the lessons they have learned. This expansive volume includes rights-based approaches with a variety of populations and across international settings. It explores environmental issues such as the right to clean air, water, and food. It examines the rights of the vulnerable, including women and children. It also includes work in difficult locations, such as prisons, high-conflict areas, and New Orleans post-Katrina. The useful tools and diverse case studies in this text provide the best models available for those interested in implementing or furthering a rights-based agenda. Key Features: Contains an overview of the key international documents regarding the right to health Provides an exploration of the efficacy of rights-based approaches to health Covers professional and ethical issues in rights-based approaches Presents systemic and policy implications, including a rights-based approach to health care reform Includes global case studies from a wide variety of noted organizations and practitioners




Just Health Care


Book Description

Norman Daniels examines the medical policies and heath care dilemmas.




The Human Right to Health


Book Description

This timely book offers a fresh perspective on how to effectively address the issue of unequal access to healthcare. It analyses the human right to health from the underexplored legal principle of solidarity, proposing a non-commercial understanding of the positive obligations inherent in the right to health.




Human Rights in Global Health


Book Description

Institutions matter for the advancement of human rights in global health. Given the dramatic development of human rights under international law and the parallel proliferation of global institutions for public health, there arises an imperative to understand the implementation of human rights through global health governance. This volume examines the evolving relationship between human rights, global governance, and public health, studying an expansive set of health challenges through a multi-sectoral array of global organizations. To analyze the structural determinants of rights-based governance, the organizations in this volume include those international bureaucracies that implement human rights in ways that influence public health in a globalizing world. This volume brings together leading health and human rights scholars and practitioners from academia, non-governmental organizations, and the United Nations system. They explore the foundations of human rights as a normative framework for global health governance, the mandate of the World Health Organization to pursue a human rights-based approach to health, the role of inter-governmental organizations across a range of health-related human rights, the influence of rights-based economic governance on public health, and the focus on global health among institutions of human rights governance. Contributing chapters each map the distinct human rights efforts within a specific institution of global governance for health. Through the comparative institutional analysis in this volume, the contributing authors examine institutional dynamics to operationalize human rights in organizational policies, programs, and practices and assess institutional factors that facilitate or inhibit human rights mainstreaming for global health advancement.