Module 4 Lecture 29 Flashcards
International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR)
- Explicit “right to health” and steps states should take to “realise progressively” “the maximum available resources” to the “highest attainable standard of health”
- Gives examples of inclusions, able to evolve, “reasonableness” for different states and expectation of international co-operation
- Right to health =/= Right to be healthy
Right to Health (4 points)
- Enshrined in International Law
- Extends beyond health care to pre-conditions
- States obliged to respect (no discrimination), protect (no interference) and fulfil (adopt measures to achieve equity)
- Social epidemiology links health with social justice and thus links to good government
Right to Health in human rights framework
1) Health inequities are evidence of laws, policies and practices that distribute resources and opportunities in a discriminatory manner and limit full participation
2) Health is acknowledged as political (power, social context and politics) and health policy decisions have a legal dimension rather than being a purely political discretion
The Right to Health (described)
The Right to Health is conceptualised at a population level. As such populations should be able to attain similar health outcomes if risks to population health and wellbeing were similarly resourced and protected. This R2H supports governments to reduce systematic differences between groups which nations (inequities) and ideally also support cooperation between nations to reduce differences between nations.
The Right to be Healthy
Thought of at an individual level and cannot be guaranteed as it is a function of an individual’s family history and other risks. Some people will get asthma, childhood cancer or diabetes (Type 1), immune problems (etc) from cause that are not easily preventable resulting in different individual health outcomes.
Examples of health policies and practices that support the “Right to Health”
Smoke free policies and practices, increasing taxes or prices on harmful products (e.g. tobacco), immunisation schedules and road transport rules
A government cannot guarantee an individual the right to be healthy but…
… a government ought to ensure that all individuals have safe living and working environments, equitable access to the determinants of health and health services
NZ Public Health & Disability Act
1) Reducing inequalities one of the purposes
2) No explicit mention of R2H but main purpose is a DHB based health system to foster community participation
3) ToW caluse as well as clause that notes that no-one will have privileges based on race
4) Reducing inequalities focus on reiterated in overarching policy documents
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
1) Affirms indigenous rights as does 1835 Declaration of Independence
2) Various ways of using ToW as a framework with different strengths and limitations
3) Good governance
4) Didn’t sign for a bad deal
5) Active protection
6) Napier Hospital Claim - health as taonga
7) Ngati Porou Claim - inequities as a breach
UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Everyone has human rights
- Indigenous people have not always been able to fully realise them
- Declaration seeks to facilitate full realisation of rights and stronger relationships between Indigenous peoples and states
R2H Instruments
1) Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2) IESCR
3) Other international rights conventions
4) Indigenous Rights
- ToW
- UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples
5) NZ legislation and policies
- Human Rights
- NZPHDS
- Code of Patient Rights
