E-DRUG: New student book on the Right to Health
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Dear e-druggers,
I would like to draw your attention to a new book on health and human rights "The right to health: theory and practice". The right to health cannot be implemented in practice without the active support by health workers, who unfortunately sometimes overlook the laws that govern their work. The book is specifically intended for students but contains a lot that e-druggers may find interesting and useful.
The first section presents an excellent summary of the key concepts, principles and treaties that together constitute "human rights law" and the "right to health". The second section presents examples of how these principles are applied in practice, with chapters on HIV/AIDS in Vietnam, maternal mortality in Peru, mental health in Sweden, health for asylum seekers without papers in the UK, access to palliative care and pain treatment with opioids, and, yes, a chapter on access to essential medicines written by myself. But let me haste to declare no conflict of interest: I do not get any financial or other benefit from the sales of this book.
I can't even try to list the many insights I have gained myself from reading every chapter in the book, but let me wet your appetite. Do human rights represent a universal human value or are they simply a western concept based on liberalism? Do we do good because that is our personal human virtue, because this is how we want everybody to act, because it leads to the goal of the greatest good for the greatest number of people, or because social justice is a political choice? Did you know that after 50 years, human rights principles now constitute a set of internationally recognized norms and standards that so many states have committed themselves to abide by, that these principles are now considered as the "best practice" for which no more evidence is needed? And that this implies that the burden of proof now falls on those who wish to restrict human rights and not on those who promote them? Did you realize that the right-based approach adds two very important components to Primary Health Care that have often been missing: a legal basis and accountability? Did you know that six countries in the world consume 79% of all morphine, making dying people a vulnerable group in nearly every developing country? That a doctor who treats illegal migrants does not have to report them to the police? That people with mental illness are not automatically incompetent to take decisions about their own treatment? These and many, many more practical examples represent an essential body of awareness and knowledge for every health worker in the world.
The right to health: theory and practice. Gunilla Backman (Ed), 368p. Lund (Sweden): Studentlitteratur 2012. ISBN 978-91-44-06780-3
http://www.hhropenforum.org/2012/05/book-brief-the-right-to-health/
Hans V. Hogerzeil, MD, PhD, FRCP Edin
Professor of Global Health and the Right to Health
University of Groningen
The Netherlands
H.V.Hogerzeil@umcg.nl