Advancing the Human Right to Health

Advancing the Human Right to Health offers a prospective on the global response to one of the greatest moral, legal, and public health challenges of the 21st century - achieving the human right to health as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other legal instruments.

Featuring writings by global thought-leaders in the world of health human rights, the book brings clarity to many of the complex clinical, ethical, economic, legal, and socio-cultural questions raised by injury, disease, and deeper determinants of health, such as poverty. Much more than a primer on the right to health, this book features an examination of profound inequalities in health, which have resulted in millions of people condemned to unnecessary suffering and hastened deaths. In so doing, it provides a thoughtful account of the right to health's parameters, strategies on ways in which to achieve it, and discussion of why it is so essential in a 21st century context.

Country-specific case studies provide context for analysing the right to health and assessing whether, and to what extent, this right has influenced critical decision-making that makes a difference in people's lives. Thematic chapters also look at the specific challenges involved in translating the right to health into action.

Advancing the Human Right to Health highlights the urgency to build upon the progress made in securing the right to health for all, offering a timely reminder that all stakeholders must redouble their efforts to advance the human right to health.

Dr Jose M. Zuniga was appointed President of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) in December 1999. He has published in various journals, authored chapters, and acted as a contributing editor for numerous books. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, and is a founding member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Themis. He is also the founding Chair of the Humanitas Foundation, which supports innovative approaches to improve individual, community, and public health. In addition, he advises regional and international agencies, including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), on matters related to the field of HIV medicine.

Professor Stephen P. Marks is the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he directs the Program on Human Rights in Development. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and books relating to the human right to benefit including scientific progress, universal jurisdiction, cultural rights and human rights in development. He has also held teaching positions at Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Phnom Penh Faculty of Law, Cardozo School of Law, Rutgers University School of Law, and City University of Hong Kong School of Law and University of Hong Kong Law School. He spent 12 years in the service of the United Nations, working for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and in various peacekeeping operations, including in Western Sahara and Cambodia.

Professor Lawrence O. Gostin is University Professor, Georgetown University's highest academic rank conferred by the University President. He directs the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and was the Founding O'Neill Chair in Global Health Law. He is Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University, Professor of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University, and Director of the Center for Law & the Public's Health at both universities. Professor Gostin is also the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Public Health Law & Human Rights. He holds numerous editorial appointments, and his principal position is the Health Law and Ethics Editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association. He is also Founding Editor-in-Chief of Laws. Professor Gostin has led major law reform initiatives in the United States, including the drafting of the Model Emergency Health Powers Act (MEHPA) to combat bioterrorism and the "Turning Point" Model State Public Health Act.