Health and Human Rights News
Week ending 24 May 2025
World leaders commit extra funding to WHO…
The 78th World Health Assembly, convening this week under the theme “One World for Health”, saw member states voting to increase their dues by 20% thereby helping to plug the gap left by the US withdrawal from the organization. An additional $170 million was pledged by world leaders which is being seen as a commitment to WHO’s global public health programming.
…Pandemic agreement adopted
The world’s first Pandemic Agreement has finally been adopted at the WHA. The agreement sets out the principles, approaches, and tools for better international coordination during pandemics, to strengthen the global health architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. UNAIDS, which played a key role in advocating for the agreement and ensuring that it centered on equity and human rights, said the agreement has laid a foundation for building on the experience of COVID-19 and ensuring that never again will millions around the world die when life-saving technology is available.
See also:
Human Rights Must Guide a Pandemic Treaty, Timothy Fish Hodgson, Roojin Habibi, Benjamin Mason Meier, et al., Nov 2021
Who Deserves Health Care in a Global Pandemic? Monica Gagnon, Rebecca Cheff, and Lisa Forman, 23/2, Dec 2021
Use rights to transform tax policy for global good
A technical note developed by the Center for Economic and Social Rights explores the ongoing negotiations at the UN about introducing human rights law into the Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The paper discusses the relevance of human rights to international tax cooperation and the benefits that aligning the two could have as states seek to “fulfill their human rights’ obligations, achieve sustainable development, and finance climate action.”
See also:
A Tax on the World’s Ultra-Rich to Fight Hunger and Disease, Eric A. Friedman and Lawrence O. Gostin, Viewpoint, May 2025
Ecuador Court Forces Tax Changes to Comply with the Right to Health, Berenice Cerra and Daniel Dorado, September 2024
Record number of attacks on health care in conflict zones
In its annual report, published this week, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) announced a record number of violent attacks on healthcare workers, facilities, and system infrastructure in 2024. “Assaults on health care in conflicts around the world reached new levels of horror in 2024,” said coalition chair Len Rubenstein, “exceeding 3,600 incidents, 15% more than in 2023.” More than 1,300 attacks on health care took place in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and there were devastating assaults on health infrastructure and workers in Ukraine, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Sudan. Christina Wille, Director of Insecurity Insight, added: “There has been a complete erosion in the respect for international humanitarian law and the responsibility to protect health care in conflict”.
See also:
Drone Attacks on Health in 2023: International Humanitarian Law and the Right to Health, Joseph J. Amon and Leonard Rubenstein, Vol 26/1, 2024.
Monitoring Attacks on Health Care as a Basis to Facilitate Accountability for Human Rights Violations, Benjamin Mason Meier, Hannah Rice, and Shashika Bandara Volume 23/1, June 2021.
More drone strikes on civilian infrastructure in Sudan
UN expert on Sudan, Radhouane Nouicer, warned of increasing use of drones and expansion of the conflict. Once a lifeline for humanitarian operations and a safe haven for internally displaced people, Port Sudan has faced a disturbing escalation in drone strikes since early May. Nouicer expressed profound concern at the resulting widespread power outages and impact on fuel supplies, which disrupt access to essential rights, such as the right to food, safe drinking water, and health care—noting that some medical facilities in Port Sudan and Kassala have already been forced to work at reduced capacity.
World urges an end to deliberate starvation in Gaza
Human Rights Watch, along with 760 humanitarian and human rights organizations worldwide, called for the end of the deliberate starvation of civilians in Gaza and the “immediate organization and deployment of a Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.” The World Food Programme Gaza Director stressed the urgency, saying “We are in a race against time to prevent widespread starvation” and on Tuesday May 20, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned that 14,000 babies in Gaza would die in the next 48 hours unless aid reached them. The day before, only 9 trucks were permitted by Israel to enter the Gaza Strip, the first in 11 weeks. On Thursday, May 22, WFP reported that a handful of bakeries in the region had resumed bread production, though the blockade remained partially in place and a “woefully inadequate” flow of aid had started.
Security Council must respond to gendered impacts in Gaza
UN experts urged the UN Security Council to respond to the “grave and gendered impacts of the unfolding genocide on women and girls in the besieged Gaza Strip” ahead of its open debate on civilian protection, which began this week. “Women continue to mourn profound losses while caring for families with little to no access to water, medicine, adequate food, sanitary products, or sexual and reproductive health care,” said the experts, repeating their calls for a permanent ceasefire and meaningful response to the gendered impact of Israel’s attack on Gaza’s population.
See also:
Respectful Care for Women and Newborns in Crisis Settings: A Human Right, Caroline Kinsella, June 2021
Europe assessing agreements with Israel
The European Commission will review the European Union’s political and economic agreement with Israel to assess whether Israel has violated its obligations to respect human rights and democratic principles. Though welcoming the move, Amnesty International called the review “devastatingly late.” The leaders of the UK, France, and Canada, issued a statement declaring that “Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.” The UK extended this condemnation by suspending talks on a trade deal with Israel.
Trump policies leave domestic and global health research in crisis
In a Lancet paper researchers Steven Woolf, Sandro Galea, and David R Williams discuss the Trump administration’s attack on US health research infrastructure and institutions. The authors note that despite pushbacks and fights from research institutions, policies have not been altered and institutions now face serious challenges. The article lists six major impacts: reduced access to data, delays in scientific progress, a diminishing health research workforce, reduction in perceived objectivity and independence of health research due to increased censorship, impediments to international collaboration, and erosion of public confidence in health research.
See also:
Trump’s Banned Words and Disastrous Health Policies, Joseph J. Amon, Fight for Rights Viewpoint, February 2025
Health coverage at risk for millions of Americans
The US House of Representatives has passed by a slim margin a reconciliation bill, officially titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, sending it to the Senate for approval or changes. According to Human Rights Watch, cuts proposed by the bill pose a threat to Americans’ right to health by stripping millions of health care coverage, making significant cuts to the nation’s largest anti-hunger program (SNAP), and eliminating environmental health funding. Researchers at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families show how the bill makes enrolment more difficult and places coverage for children, families, people with disabilities, and seniors at risk. At Georgetown’s Center for Health Insurance Reform researchers said there will be an unprecedented loss of insurance coverage for millions of Americans, causing the nation’s uninsured rate to increase by an estimated 30%.
UN Experts: Misrepresentation of UK Supreme Court ruling “deeply concerning”
The Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, along with other UN Experts are concerned about the recent UK Supreme Court ruling that interpreted the definition of “woman” under the 2010 Equality Act. Though the legal framing of the Court’s decision was nuanced, public understanding and misconceptions of the ruling may have disturbing social consequences, as “it may be used to justify exclusionary policies that further stigmatise and marginalise an already vulnerable population.” The experts advised the UK to correct policy and law to prevent being found in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights again by not providing adequate legal recognition for trans individuals.
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