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 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…
Abstract – Norheim, Wilson
Health Rights Litigation and Access to Medicines: Priority Classification of Successful Cases from Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court 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’…
Abstract – Maleche, Day
Right to Health Encompasses Right to Access Essential Generic Medicines: Challenging the 2008 Anti-Counterfeit Act in Kenya Allan Maleche and Emma Day Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 To what extent has the right to access generic HIV medication been implemented in Kenya for the 1.6 million people living with HIV? How does this relate to the right to health under international and national law? This paper examines a constitutional…
Abstract – Terwindt
Health Rights Litigation Pushes for Accountability in Clinical Trials in India Carolijn Terwindt Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 In 2009, around 24,000 girls in India were enrolled in a human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination program that was later reviewed to investigate allegations of informed consent irregularities and inadequate monitoring. If the allegations are found to be correct, the clinical trial will have violated core human rights, including the right to health. Unfortunately, such irregularities…
Abstract – Barcellos
Sanitation Rights, Public Law Litigation, and Inequality: A Case Study from Brazil Ana Paula de Barcellos Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 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,…
Abstract – Arps, Golichenko
Sex Workers, Unite! (Litigating for Sex Workers’ Freedom of Association in Russia) F. S. E. (Freddie) Arps and Mikhail Golichenko Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 The existing legal framework in Russia makes sex work and related activities punishable offenses, leaving sex workers stigmatized, vulnerable to violence, and disproportionally affected by HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice, supported by the courts, refused registration and…
Abstract – Dignam, Adashi
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 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…
Sex Workers, Unite! (Litigating for Sex Workers’ Freedom of Association in Russia)
F. S. E. (Freddie) Arps and Mikhail Golichenko Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract The existing legal framework in Russia makes sex work and related activities punishable offenses, leaving sex workers stigmatized, vulnerable to violence, and disproportionally affected by HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice, supported by the courts, refused registration and official recognition to the first all-Russia association of sex workers, referring…
Sexual and Reproductive Rights Litigation Draws World Experts
Published November 25, 2014 Health rights litigation is receiving much attention at Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and Harvard Law School. Under the direction of FXB policy director Alicia Ely Yamin, the Center recently hosted the third annual course on health rights litigation as part of the Global School on Socioeconomic Rights. This year’s course focused exclusively on sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) litigation, including such topics…
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Ebola and Human Rights: Insight from Experts
By Patrick Donnelly Published November 20, 2014 Ebola demonstrates the critical link between health and human rights, the lack of governance, and the misdirection that befalls the international community in addressing such outbreaks. Human rights experts agree that the Ebola response falls into Lawrence Gostin’s paradigm whereby “the perception persists that disease threats originate in the global South, requiring international law to prevent their spread to affluent regions.”1 In the…
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