Paul Farmer, editor-in-chief of Health and Human Rights and founding director of Partners in Health, delivered the principal commencement address at the College of the Holy Cross on May 25. In his speech, centered on a personal anecdote he dubbed “The Story of the Inhaler,” Farmer looked to impress upon the graduating class the inequality that exists in the world and every person’s obligation to combat it. He recounted a…
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By Heather Adams, Fellow, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights In 2012, 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys in the United States will be diagnosed with autism, a figure that exceeds the number of children who will be diagnosed with AIDS, diabetes, and cancer combined. Recent research findings estimate the annual cost of autism in the US at $126B. Yet this lifelong disorder attracts less than…
As an undergraduate with limited knowledge of health and human rights issues, I joined the FXB Center as a summer intern out of a curiosity to better understand this topic. Attending the FXB Center’s Intensive Course on Health and Human Rights: Concepts, Implementation, and Impact provided me with a full-scale immersion into this field that I couldn’t have expected and have greatly appreciated. The course began with an introductory primer…
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During a June 1 health conference held in Norway, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged their countries’ aid to a new initiative, “Saving Mothers, Giving Life,” which supports maternal health and aims “to improve the health of mothers and their babies in developing countries” by ensuring proper medical supplies and support during the birthing process and during the first 24 hours after birth.…
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Regulating Corporate Human Rights Violations Surya Deva Routledge (January 2012) ISBN 9780415668217 296 pages $145 Surya Deva’s new book on the humanization of business sets out to address three crucial and timely questions: Why companies and corporations have human rights responsibilities, what the scope of these responsibilities is, and how businesses, particularly multinational corporations, should be held accountable for human rights violations. The author opens with a study of the…
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Solomon Benatar and Gillian Brock Cambridge University Press, 2011 ISBN 9780521146777 350 pages $62 Benatar and Brock explore the obligations and challenges surrounding the improvement of global health in their new textbook, Global Health and Global Health Ethics. The editors posit that a comprehensive understanding of ethical issues concerning health is necessary for the promotion of sustainable and healthy living conditions, both locally and globally. Beginning with an overview of…
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Gunilla Backman, ed. Studentlitteratur, 2012 ISBN 9789144067803 368 pages $50 The Right to Health, edited by Gunilla Backman, expounds on the central theme that a functioning, accessible, and non-discriminatory health system is necessary for the realization of the right to health. The student guide illuminates the various disciplines involved in the practical applications of this concept, including the fields of health, human rights, law and ethics. Based on Backman’s law…
Child protection network ECPAT International recently released a report stating that countries around the globe are falling far short of efforts necessary to stop child sex trafficking. ECPAT evaluated and rated 42 countries for their efforts in fighting child sex slavery, concluding that most countries are “failing to sufficiently criminalize the trafficking of children for sex.” Part of the problem lies in the criminalization of the young victims, rather than…
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By Rachel Kelley and Charlotte Greenbaum Reproductive health care funding has captured the American limelight in recent months. Whether responding to health care legislation or nonprofit philanthropies’ funding decisions, advocates across the country have defended the essential role of reproductive health care services to women’s and families’ wellbeing. As these conversations continue in the context of American politics, funding for reproductive health care remains in jeopardy not only in the…
By Angela Duger Health and human rights professionals have long considered food and nutrition to be underlying determinants of health, but the focus has largely been on undernutrition. That focus is now changing. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.5 billion people are overweight or obese, and that now, for the first time in history, there are more overweight than underweight adults in the world. Obesity is linked to…
