Category: Blog

Ann Taket Routledge (June 2012) ISBN 9780415613750 224 pages $48.95 In Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights, Ann Taket explains the importance of linking health and human rights, and how combining these concepts into a human rights framework can support public health and health advocacy efforts. Taket first describes and analyzes global, regional, national, and subnational human rights systems, and the mechanisms these systems use to address human rights.…

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By HHR intern Kathy Wang On November 1, I attended Northeastern University’s annual Human Rights Institute, sponsored by the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE). This year’s two-day program focused on the theme of social determinants of health and addressed economic, social, and cultural rights as they relate to current social justice issues. Speakers and attendees included academics, health practitioners, and human rights advocates. PHRGE director (and…

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By Sara Gorman In recent years, a welcome increase in attention to specific psychological problems among refugees has led to important new insights. Some of this research interest stems from experience with troops and veterans of the Iraqi and Afghani wars. New research has focused not only on the psychiatric effects of torture and human rights abuses, but also on the mental health consequences of victims’ subsequent forced migration. These…

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Paul R. Epstein and Dan Ferber University of California Press (June 2012) ISBN 9780520272637 368 pages $24.95 Changing Planet, Changing Health gives a detailed chronology and analysis of the status of climate change and its damaging effects on the health community. Drawing upon their experiences in the field and testimonies from other experts and researchers, Paul R. Epstein and Dan Ferber provide a thorough account of environmental health dangers, from…

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Edited by Joseph Millum and Ezekiel J. Emanuel Oxford University Press (February 2012) ISBN 9780195379907 315 pages $42.30 Editors Millum and Emanuel have compiled a series of essays to link the philosophical questions about global justice, especially of bioethics, and the implementation of ideas and policies. The authors choose to address these issues in two distinct ways: Ideal theory involving more hypothetical defining of what is just and non-ideal theory…

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Jeremy Youde Polity Press (June 2012) ISBN 9780745653099 188 pages $24.95 With a mixed approach combining the international legal environment with increasingly pressing global health issues, Jeremy Youde’s Global Health Governance provides an introduction to the legal infrastructure and jurisprudence at the intersection of public health and global governance. The book offers a framework for understanding the network of actors, interests, and issues at stake and their wide-ranging effects. Youde…

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Maude Barlow The New Press (June 2009) ISBN 9781595584533 196 pages $16.95 In Blue Covenant, Maude Barlow seeks to impress upon the reader the importance of sustainable and equitable access to safe drinking water. Starting with a thorough account of why our water sources are dwindling—from contamination and pollution to unsustainable welling practices and disruptive diversions—Barlow creates a sense of urgency around the supply of clean drinking water. She applies…

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An IPS article reports on the human rights violations and health plight of thousands in eastern Myanmar, a region experiencing frequent conflict along the volatile Thai-Myanmar border. The communities in this area are considered “highly vulnerable” and human rights groups have estimated that around 500,000 villagers are internally displaced persons. Jen Leigh, field director of the Global Health Access Program (GHAP) told IPS, “We have documented that the experience of…

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Phil Brown, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Stephen Zavestoski, and the Contested Illnesses Research Group University of California Press (December 2011) ISBN 9780520270213 352 pages $29.95 In Contested Illnesses, Phil Brown, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Stephen Zavestoski, and the Contested Illnesses Research Group look at health and disease through the lens of politics and science. Geared towards an audience familiar with health social movements, the book delves deep into embodied health movements, qualitative methods of…

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Reuters notes that the United Nations AIDS program has released a report linking  improved access to antiretroviral drugs as a major factor in the decreased incidence of deaths from HIV and AIDS.The report was released just ahead of the International AIDS Society’s 2012 conference in Washington, DC. According to the Reuters article, UN and public health officials have been pushing for pharmaceutical companies to improve access to HIV treatments, especially…

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