Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health

by Elvira Beracochea MD, MPH (Editor), Corey Weinstein MD, CCHP (Editor), Dabney Evans MPH, CHES (Editor)

Overview

Named a 2013 Doody's Core Title!

With great timing, the editors of Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health offer a targeted and innovative strategy to combat global health problems. Balanced, comprehensive, and steeped in the historical traditions of human rights, the book persuasively moves the reader from abstract conceptions of inalienable human rights to evidence-based, pragmatic solutions that highlight the systematic integration of human rights principles in human development work."—PsycCRITIQUES

The human rights framework as eloquently described in this book offers a new way for us to think about how we approach our work: from deciding when and how to intervene, to how we plan, the goals we establish, and the metrics we use to gauge the success of our efforts. Public health instructors will find many of the chapters useful for illustrating, in very concrete ways, the link between human rights and public health, providing students (and practitioners) with a new framework for analyzing public health topics and for designing and evaluating interventions. Ultimately, civil rights and civil liberties are only of value when exercised. This book will contribute to the advance of human rights by leading increasing numbers of public health practitioners to advocate for, and promote, their realization.Score: 95, 4 stars —Doody's Medical Reviews

Rights Based Approaches to Public Health provides a new perspective on addressing public health problems. It is an evidence based and cutting edge approach that provides important insights into solving ethical dilemmas. It is essential reading for anyone interested in ensuring health equity and justice.

Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP
Executive Director of the American Public Health Association

At root, those working in health and human rights are both animated by a similar concern: the well-being of individuals and populations. The book will be an invaluable asset to both communities as they work to achieve their common goal.

From the foreword by Paul Hunt

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health

(2002-2008)

Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health presents a variety of public health professionals who utilize rights-based approaches in their work, the challenges they face, and the lessons they have learned.

This expansive volume includes rights-based approaches with a variety of populations and across international settings. It explores environmental issues such as the right to clean air, water, and food. It examines the rights of the vulnerable, including women and children. It also includes work in difficult locations, such as prisons, high-conflict areas, and New Orleans post-Katrina. The useful tools and diverse case studies in this text provide the best models available for those interested in implementing or furthering a rights-based agenda.

Key Features:

• Contains an overview of the key international documents regarding the right to health
• Provides an exploration of the efficacy of rights-based approaches to health
• Covers professional and ethical issues in rights-based approaches
• Presents systemic and policy implications, including a rights-based approach to health care reform
• Includes global case studies from a wide variety of noted organizations and practitioners

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826105691
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/01/2010
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Elvira Beracochea, MD. MPH, she is a speaker, writer and consultant and founder, president and CEO of MIDEGO, Inc., a consulting firm that provides innovative global public health and international development solutions for reaching the Millennium development goals.

Corey Weinstein, MD, CCHP, has practiced medicine in California for 35 years. In 1975 he co-founded the Hering Family Health Clinic in Berkeley. He is a founder of California Prison Focus, a 16 year old community based human rights organization that works with prisoners in California's high security prisons.

Dabney Evans, MPH, CHES is Executive Director of the Emory University Institute of Human Rights.

Table of Contents

Contributors xi

Foreword xv

Part I Introduction

1 Introduction: Why Do Rights-Based Approaches to Health Matter? Elvira Beracochea Dabney P. Evans Corey Weinstein 3

2 Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health Systems Benjamin Mason Meier Lance Gable Jocelyn E. Getgen Leslie London 19

3 Rights-Based Approaches and Health Disparities in the United States Roshni D. Persaud 31

4 A Rights-Based Approach to Health Care Reform Anja Rudiger Benjamin Mason Meier 69

5 Rights-Based Approaches and Millennium Development Goals Elvira Beracochea Monika Sawhney Ujwal Chhetry 87

6 Global Plans of Action for Health George Kent 103

Part II Rights-Based Approaches and Professional Development

7 Ethical Issues and Rights-Based Approaches: Balancing Dual Loyalties Leslie London Leonard Rubenstein Laurel Baldwin-Ragaven 119

8 A Rights-Based Approach to Research: Assessing the Right to Water in Haiti Margaret L. Satterthwaite Amanda M. Klasing 143

9 Using the Right to Food to Teach Human Rights George Kent 155

Part III Rights-Based Approaches With Special Populations and Settings

10 Human Rights and Women's Health Padmini Murthy Dhrubajyoti (Dru) Bhattacharya 169

11 A Rights-Based Approach to Children's Health Nichola Cadge 183

12 Human Rights and HIV Prevention Among Drug Users Salaam Semaan Don C. Des Jarlais Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch Alexandra Kirby Tanya Telfair Sharpe 201

13 Rights-Based Approaches in Conflict-Affected Settings Emily Waller Andrew D. Pinto Neil Arya Anthony B. Zwi 221

Part IV Case Studies

14 Promoting Human Rights in Public Health Programs: Lessons Learned from HealthRight International Vandana Tripathi Mehlika Ozden Hoodbhoy Mila Rosenthal 253

15 Operationalizing Rights-Based Approaches to Health: The Case of CARE in Peru Ariel Frisancho Jay Goulden Helene D. Gayle 271

16 Liberation Medicine and Accompaniment in El Salvador: The Experience of Doctors for Global Health Jennifer Kasper Clyde Lanford (Lanny) Smith 293

17 The Right to Clean Air: The U.S. Clean Air Act's Approach David P. Novello 309

18 Peer Education in Prison: A Rights-Based Approach Kathy Boudin Corey Weinstein 321

19 Rights-Based Approaches to Community Development: A Case Study of the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans Ann Yoachim Charles Allen III 333

20 Rights-Based Approaches in Conflict Settings: Examples from Nepal and Israel/Palestine Neil Arya Judy Kitts Khagendra Dahal 345

21 Rights-Based Approaches to Essential Medicines Elvira Beracochea David Lee 359

Conclusion: Rights-Based Approaches in Public Health Elvira Beracochea Dabney P. Evans Corey Weinstein 375

Appendix: List of Acronyms 381

Index 385

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Babette J Neuberger, JD, MPH (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Description: This is a valuable contribution to the growing body of scholarship on the link between human rights and public health. The selected writings describe practical applications of a rights-based approach to public health and, in so doing, illuminate the significant differences between a rights-based approach and the conventional needs-based framework.
Purpose: By amassing in one book eight case studies and numerous articles covering the application of a rights-based approach to a range of public health topics, the authors have succeeded in drawing a roadmap for practitioners. The authors clarify that a rights-based approach triggers an imperative to act, and to act in a manner that addresses underlying factors contributing to public health problems rather than simply addressing (when resources are available) the most obvious needs of the moment. Critical indicators offer a guide for how we do our work - such as ensuring that target populations are involved in the effort and are empowered to participate, protecting the most vulnerable, and fostering a climate to redress power imbalances. The authors further delineate the responsibilities or duties of state actors within a human rights framework, again offering concrete examples of how to work with governmental authorities and, in some instances, how to empower them to act in partnership with the community. The programmatic work depicted in these collective stories breathes life into the numerous legal treaties recognizing civil rights and civil liberties. The treaties, which grew out of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the U. N. General Assembly in 1948, form a globally-recognized ideal for humanity. It is only relatively recently that these rights have taken on meaningful form and have had an impact in the courts and in global civil society.
Audience: This book is of obvious and significant value to public health practitioners and soon-to-be practitioners (our students), in addition to those who are engaged in the scholarship of public health ethics. Law students and legal rights scholars will benefit from reading narratives describing the practical implications of human rights treaties. The authors have compiled the work of an impressive array of experts, including international legal scholars, academicians, physicians, and other professionals working in U.S. and international NGOs, who are at the forefront of adopting a human rights framework to guide their work. Most chapters provide abundant references for those desiring more in-depth information.
Features: The compilation of well-written articles describes how one might advance human rights in a wide variety of public health settings, including children's health, prisoners, environmental pollution, healthcare reform in the U.S., and healthcare delivery in developing countries. The chapters describe specific rights as well as specific obligations or responsibilities of the duty bearers (typically government or state actors, but also individuals), providing clear definitions of common terminology used in the literature.
Assessment: The human rights framework as eloquently described in this book offers a new way for us to think about how we approach our work: from deciding when and how to intervene, to how we plan, the goals we establish, and the metrics we use to gauge the success of our efforts. Public health instructors will find many of the chapters useful for illustrating, in very concrete ways, the link between human rights and public health, providing students (and practitioners) with a new framework for analyzing public health topics and for designing and evaluating interventions. Ultimately, civil rights and civil liberties are only of value when exercised. This book will contribute to the advance of human rights by leading increasing numbers of public health practitioners to advocate for, and promote, their realization. Those interested in supplementary reading are encouraged to review A Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming: Practical Information Manual and Training Materials (UNFPA, 2010; last accessed January 4, 2011: http://www.unfpa.org/public/publications/pid/4919). The training manual, authored by The Harvard School of Public Health's Program of International Health and Human Rights and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), offers guidance on the practical application of human rights, covering three main areas: population and development, reproductive health, and gender.

Doody's Review Service