Ole Frithjof Norheim and Bruce M. Wilson Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract Although Costa Rica has no explicit constitutional right to health, its constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) has become increasingly central to the resolution of many health care decisions. Some argue that courts’ decisions about individuals’ access to very expensive medications could upset the country’s medical priorities and harm the state’s general health care…
Striking a Balance: Conscientious Objection and Reproductive Health Care from the Colombian Perspective
Luisa Cabal, Monica Arango Olaya, Valentina Montoya Robledo Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract Conscientious Objection or conscientious refusal (CO) in access to reproductive health care is at the center of current legal debates worldwide. In countries such as the US and the UK, constitutional dilemmas surrounding CO in the context of reproductive health services reveal inadequate policy frameworks for balancing CO rights with women’s rights to access contraception…
Litigating the Right to Health: What Can We Learn from a Comparative Law and Health Care Systems Approach?
Colleen M. Flood and Aeyal Gross Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract This article presents research demonstrating that the right to health plays different roles in different types of health systems. In high-income countries with tax-funded health systems, we usually encounter a lack of an enforceable right to heath. In contrast, rights play a more significant role in social health insurance/managed competition systems (which are present in a mixture…
Health Rights in the Balance: The Case Against Perinatal Shackling of Women Behind Bars
Brett Dignam and Eli Y. Adashi Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract Rationalized for decades on security grounds, perinatal shackling entails the application of handcuffs, leg irons, and/or waist shackles to the incarcerated woman prior to, during, and after labor and delivery. During labor and delivery proper, perinatal shackling may entail chaining women to the hospital bed by the ankle, wrist, or both. Medically untenable, legally challenged, and ever…
Sanitation Rights, Public Law Litigation, and Inequality: A Case Study from Brazil
Ana Paula de Barcellos Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract Public law litigation has been used in many places to advance human rights related to health. In Brazil, such lawsuits usually request that the government pay for pharmaceuticals to individuals. But could litigation play a role in shaping public health policies to benefit communities? To explore this question, this paper focuses on lawsuits involving determinants of health, namely water…
Health Litigation in Colombia: Have We Reached the Limit for the Judicialization of Health?
Daniel Alzate Mora Published September 23, 2014 This essay presents a critical view of the standard interpretation of the Constitutional Court of Colombia’s (the Court’s) role in health litigation. Although at first glance Colombia represents a successful case of health litigation, we argue that based on the Court’s judicial activism, and a more thorough analysis of health system dynamics, contradictions, and their development in the configuration of health rights, such…
Editorial: Special Issue on Health Rights Litigation
Promoting Equity in Health: What Role for Courts? Alicia Ely Yamin, JD MPH, Guest Editor Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 I am particularly delighted to introduce this special issue on health rights litigation on the 20th anniversary of the launch of Health and Human Rights. The last 20 years have witnessed an extraordinary growth and evolution in the “health and human rights movement,” and this journal, which has also…
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Navigating the Access to Information Challenge in Health Rights Litigation in Uganda
Namusobya Salima Published September 23, 2014 Strategic litigation in response to human rights violations is an increasing practice around the world.[1] Health rights litigation is undertaken to give effect to the right to the highest attainable standard of health and associated rights, such as the right to equality and non-discrimination, patients’ rights, and the right to a remedy.[2] While information is crucial to the success of any health litigation case…
In Memoriam: Giulia Tamayo, 1958-2014
Alicia Ely Yamin Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 This issue of Health and Human Rights is dedicated to the memory of Giulia Tamayo. In the course of preparing this special issue for publication, the world lost a tireless fighter for the causes of human rights, health rights, and social justice in the world. Giulia Tamayo was a beloved friend and mentor, as well as an inspiration. I first met…
Law, Human Rights, and Health Databases: A Roundtable Discussion
By Joseph J. Amon Published September 11, 2014 Three databases have launched in recent years that provide information on law, human rights, and health. LawAtlas, the Global Health and Human Rights database, and the Doctors Who Torture Accountability Project each seek to organize and put online legal information relevant for policy analysis, human rights research, and advocacy. To explore the nature of each project, the motivation behind it, and what…
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