Blog

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 111-123  PDF Ted Schrecker Abstract “Building back better” post-pandemic, as advocated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, could advance the realization of health as a human right. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely to represent a tipping point into a new and even more unequal normal, nationally and internationally, that represents a hostile environment for building back better. This paper begins with a…

Continue reading “The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Tipping Point: What Future for the Right to Health?”

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 15-28  PDF Patricio López Turconi Abstract Surrogacy operates in a regulatory void in Argentina. Despite attempts to legislate this practice, Argentine law contains no univocal rules governing the legality and enforceability of surrogacy agreements. Unsurprisingly, this has not stopped intended parents from pursuing surrogacy; quite the contrary, it has steered them into the courts, thrusting the issue into the realm of judicial policy. Through a comprehensive…

Continue reading “Assisted Regulation: Argentine Courts Address Regulatory Gaps on Surrogacy”

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 103-104  PDF LETTER TO THE EDITOR Juliette Duffy In their recent paper “Food Security as a Social Determinant of Health: Tackling Inequalities in Primary Health Care in Spain,” Mireia Campanera, Mercè Gasull, and Mabel Gracia-Arnaiz explore the role that primary health centers play in addressing food insecurity in the Catalonia region of Spain and how food security is inextricably linked with the social determinants of health.[1]…

Continue reading “Climate Change as a Risk Factor for Food Insecurity in Spain”

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 177-189  PDF Michael G. Marcondes Smith Abstract Economic policies that concentrate wealth and aggravate socioeconomic inequalities often have negative impacts on human rights. For example, evidence points to the unequal impact of austerity measures—such as the defunding and privatizing of health care—on already disadvantaged groups and individuals. Despite its detrimental impacts, austerity often appears as a necessary evil in times when difficult choices must be made.…

Continue reading “Equality Restricted: The Problematic Compatibility between Austerity Measures and Human Rights Law”

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 191-197  PDF PERSPECTIVE Thalia Viveros-Uehara Introduction As climate change increases the prevalence of diseases, morbidity, and mortality, the half of the world’s population that still lacks access to quality, affordable, and resilient health care finds it more difficult to prevent, treat, and rehabilitate from such impacts.[1] They, who bear the least responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions currently warming the Earth’s atmosphere—unlike the global richest 10%…

Continue reading “Climate Change and Economic Inequality: Are We Responding to Health Injustices?    “

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 205-217  PDF Luciano Bottini Filho Abstract Recognizing law as a determinant of scarcity in health care is vital. This paper underscores the need for a comprehensive approach to manage scarcity beyond intellectual property, using targeted regulations to promote affordability and counter market distortions. I argue that relying on law solely to ensure democratic deliberations for resource allocation overlooks market failures and economic inequalities that contribute to…

Continue reading “The Legal Determinants of Scarcity: Expanding Human Rights Advocacy for Affordability of Health Technologies”

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 53-65  PDF Zohar Lederman and Ryan Essex Abstract Thousands of Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons without trial. For some of them, engaging in hunger strikes is the last resort in opposing unlawful detention and inhumane prison conditions. While mainstream bioethics deliberation, reasonable arguments, and international legal and medical professional declarations prohibit force-feeding, local ethical deliberations, professional medical guidelines, and legislation allow the use of…

Continue reading “Using Ethics Committees to Justify Force-Feeding Political Prisoners in Israel”

Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 83-89  PDF PERSPECTIVE Lucas Miotto and Himani Bhakuni Introduction There is a proliferation of “justice” talk in health—and perhaps rightly so. We often hear about climate, distributive, epistemic, gender, racial, reproductive, and other forms of justice. This essay adds another form of justice to the list: transitional health justice. “Transitional health justice” derives its core from “transitional justice.” The latter is used by human rights scholars,…

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Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 125-139  PDF Rossella De Falco, Timothy Fish Hodgson, Matt McConnell, and A. Kayum Ahmed Abstract Private actors’ involvement in health care financing, provision, and governance contributes to economic inequality. This paper provides an overview of emerging normative trends regarding private actors’ involvement in health care by reviewing and critically analyzing international and regional human rights standards on the right to the highest attainable standard of physical…

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Vol 25/2, 2023, pp. 105-110  PDF EDITORIAL Gillian MacNaughton and A. Kayum Ahmed The emergence of neoliberalism 50 years ago has led to a marked increase in economic inequality and an undermining of economic, social, and cultural rights. The papers in this special section examine the role of neoliberal policies in exacerbating economic inequality, while at the same time considering how these policies deliberately prevent efforts to progressively realize the…

Continue reading “Economic Inequality and the Right to Health: On Neoliberalism, Corporatization, and Coloniality”