Lecture 6: human rights

Question 1

The universal Declaration of Human Rights

Answer 1

• Resulted from the second world war
• With the end of that war, and the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed never again to allow atrocities like those of that conflict happen again
• Tying this to health: someone needs to take responsibility if health is to become a human right (big issue)

Question 2

John Peter’s Humphrey

Answer 2

-Well known for offering the first draft of the declaration of human rights

Question 3

International Bill of Human Rights

Answer 3

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights & its two optional protocols

Question 4

Development of human rights conventions dealing with specific types of rights

Answer 4

• Convention on the Rights of the Child

- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Question 5

Informed human rights being incorporated into the domestic legislation of many countries

Answer 5

-“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society

Question 6

Unconditional Positive regard

Answer 6

-Imbedded in the human rights literature

-The idea that even if a person is accused of unthinkable crimes that have certain human rights that are still in place,
o You can’t torture people but they can be put in jail

Question 7

Development of an international Criminal Court

Answer 7

-Established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to international community

Question 8

Human Rights

Answer 8

• Rights of individuals simply because they are human
• Rights which are universal
• Collection of universally adopted principles founded on social justice and equality that consider freedom and well-being

Question 9

Civil Rights

Answer 9

• Rights of individuals to receive equal treatment and to be free from unfair treatment and discrimination, which may be protected by certain legal characteristics
• May be used interchangeably with human rights
• Civil rights also highlight how your rights are protected, the laws that are enforced

Question 10

Social Justice

Answer 10

• The desire for a well-ordered society
• The right to basic equal liberty and opportunities
• Offices and positions that are accessible to all under fair and equitable conditions and opportunities
• Social and economic disparities that benefit the least-advantaged individuals

Question 11

Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach

Answer 11

• Focus on individuals’ capability of achieving the kind of lives they have reason to value
• Individuals can differ greatly in their abilities to convert the same resources into valuable functioning’s
• This using income solely as a measure of inequality or inequity is insufficient
• Capabilities are influenced by individual states of disability, ill health, nature or society and legal frameworks

Question 12

Moral rights vs. legal rights

Answer 12

• Often merged in people’s minds
• Social values, cultures and religions often creep into the development of policy
• Legal rights are entitlements forced by the courts
• Moral rights are entitlements that are not enforceable by the court

Question 13

The right to health

Answer 13

• Related to the attainment of other human rights as described in the international bill of human rights, including the right to basic needs, education, vocation, access to resources and information and dignity
• Protecting the health of the broader public vs the individual
• Complex link between health and human rights
• Lack of attention to human rights has serious health consequences

Question 14

Human rights and health indicators

Answer 14

• Human rights indicators to measure health
• Health indicators to measure human rights
• Indicators of health and human rights

Question 15

Health Indicator to measure human rights

Answer 15

-Variable that helps to measure changes in a health situation directly or indirectly and to assess the extent to which the objectives and targets of a programme are being attained

o Example: infant mortality rate is a health status indicator that was created specifically to tell the health of a population. But that number tells us something about human right. If that number is high, people will question if the government is adequately addressing the child’s right to life, survival or development

Question 16

Human rights indicator to measure health

Answer 16

-A measure that provides information on the extent to which human rights norms and standards are addressed in a given situation.

o Example: human rights organizations that tap into the violations in a society. Sexual violence that occurs in conflict zones, which is a human rights issue. This will have health consequences on the health of the women

Question 17

Indicators of both health and human rights

Answer 17

-So merged together that both disciplines are interested in this a particular issue
o Example: lack of access of care to a person who is positive for HIV only.

Question 18

“The right to health”

Answer 18

-You have the right to health but you do not have the right to be healthy
o Two different issues
 I don’t have the right to say I’m not having a child with down syndrome
 You can say I have the right to get my child adequate care

• People have right to access to basic health care necessities
• Doesn’t require governments to funnel money into health care but instead ensure adequate policies are in place to provide the most accessible fast health care

Question 19

4 Factors to the right to health

Answer 19

• Quality: scientifically and medically appropriate
• Acceptability: respectful of medical ethics and culturally appropriate, sensitive to age and gender
• Availability: do you have decent number of clinics available for people to go to
• Accessibility: no discrimination to age or gender, women should be able to access clinics without the presence of a male.

Question 20

UN’s Human Rights-based Approach

Answer 20

-All programmes of development cooperation, policies and technical assistance should further the realization of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments

Question 21

Problem with rights based approach

Answer 21

-People need to be aware of what their rights actually are for rights based approaches to work
o Some people don’t know how to claim their rights
o Should they be responsible for claiming their own rights

Question 22

3 types of state obligations

Answer 22

• Respect: not to interfere with the enjoyment of the right to health.
• Protect: prevent third parties from interfering with the right to health
• Fulfil: adopt appropriate legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial, promotional and other measure to dully realize the right to health

Question 23

Analysis for Human Rights-based approach to health

Answer 23

• Assessment: what where who?
• Casual analysis: why?
• Role/Responsibility Analysis: who is obligated to do something?
• Capacity Analysis: what capacities are needed for those affected?
• Implementation: Where and how can capacity development efforts produce the greatest results?

Question 24

WHO’s 5 health promotion actions

Answer 24

• Build healthy public policy
• Create supportive environments
• Strengthen community actions
• Develop personal skills
• Reorient health services

Question 25

Priority areas in a rights-based approach to health

Answer 25

• Development of national plans which are closely monitored and include right to health indicators and pay particular attention to vulnerable groups
• Strengthening health system governance, leadership and accountability

-Evidence based services
o People are doing treatments that are not confirmed
o Access to proven health technologies, assessments and treatments

-Access to care
o Looking at people who are discriminated against, looking social inequality, and look at access to care in an equitable manner

-Uniform fees and user fees
Drop them for those on lower end of socioeconomic ladder, because it has been proven to benefit health outcomes
Slider scale arrangement: pay based on socioeconomic status or ability to pay