Date: 10/2, 13.15-15.00

Room: 419

Lecturer: Damon Barrett

Placing human rights at the centre of policy has perhaps been developed most in relation to health. This session revisits some of what we discussed in MGH101 and introduces the principles of a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to health and what kinds of questions these principles bring to the forefront.

We will also discuss the place and role of human rights in health policy, and global health governance.

SLIDES

Reading

Bustreo F. & Doebbler C. 'The Rights-Based Approach to Health' in Gostin & Meier, Foundations of Global Health and Human Rights Ch. 4 (An introduction of the 'human rights based approach' (HRBA) to health)

Gruskin S. & Tarantola D., Bringing Human Rights into Public Health, in Health and Human Rights in a Changing World. Chapter 8. (A very good chapter looking at the domains of application of human rights in public health, using the principles introduced above)

SIDA (2022) Human rights based approach to health. Technical Support Unit. https://cdn.sida.se/app/uploads/2022/03/10110647/10205933_Sida_TN_HRBA_Health_webb.pdf (A nice, short, summary of SIDA's approach to HRBA and health, showing how those principles affect programming)

Something to watch: Adopting a Human Rights Based Approach - Advice for Boards of Disability Services (Australia). I've included this as I think it gives a good example of the kinds of issues that come into focus when human rights are foregrounded.

HIV and human rights (This one is a bit old - 2010 - but it captures really important issues through the lens of HIV)

Additional reading/resources (not mandatory)

Bustreo F. & Hunt P. (2015) (eds) Women’s and Children’s Health, Evidence of Impact of Human Rights, World Health Organization (See Annex 1 for a quick summary of HRBA. If you wish, see also sections 1 & 4 for a discussion, including research challenges) http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/84203/1/9789241505420_eng.pdf

Yamin Alicia. & Cantor Rebecca. (2014) 'Between Insurrectional Discourse and Operational Guidance: Challenges and Dilemmas in Implementing Human Rights-Based Approaches to Health', Journal of Human Rights Practice 6(3), pp. 451-48 (Very good article raising conceptual and political challenges with a human rights-based approach - something for those of you that want to dig deeper on this)