Category: Perspectives

Paul Hunt It is widely recognised that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) need to be supported by more effective follow-up and review—or accountability—processes than were available to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But what should these processes be? In the last three or four years, this question has generated a wealth of literature within the UN and beyond.1 Here I highlight five key points from this rich analysis: * Monitoring…

Continue reading “SDG SERIES: SDGs and the Importance of Formal Independent Review: An Opportunity for Health to Lead the Way”

Harvard FXB Health and Human Rights Consortium Student Essay Competition 2015. Georgetown University’s winning essay was written for the course “Business and Healthy Lifestyles,” taught by Professor Roger Magnasson, Spring 2015. Diya Uberoi  The years have seen a rise in the burden of disease and death associated with tobacco. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use kills nearly 6 million people a year.1More than 5 million of these…

Continue reading “Accelerating Progress in Tobacco Control: The Example of Tobacco Litigation in India and South Africa”

Harvard FXB Health and Human Rights Consortium Student Essay Competition 2015. University of Connecticut’s winning essay was written for the course “The Right to Health in Latin America,” taught by Professor César Abadía-Barrero, Spring 2015.   Alexander M. Lawton   Introduction Many Latin American countries have been plagued by a history of conflict between repressive regimes and powerless civilians subjected to state violence. Guatemala’s history closely follows this trend, given…

Continue reading “The Right to Health in Indigenous Guatemala: Prevailing Historical Structures in the Context of Health Care”

Buddha Basnyat When the earth shook violently at midday in Nepal on April 25, 2015, I was walking down my concrete staircase. As I was hurtled from side to side, I was certain I would die. Luckily, I didn’t. This was a pure privilege in the midst of so much death and destruction. An earthquake in Nepal was a “no brainer”; something that seismologists had long predicted. Even so, the…

Continue reading “A Narrow Escape in Nepal: Reflections on Disaster Responses and Better Futures”

Ross MacDonald, Zachary Rosner, Homer Venters   Since the United Nations Convention Against Torture was adopted in 1984, training physicians to care for survivors of torture has become a valuable addition to traditional medical education. Throughout the world, there are approximately 50 programs and clinics dedicated to caring for survivors of torture, with many more medical and mental health professionals caring for these patients in other settings. While the focus…

Continue reading “Physicians Trained to Work with Torture Survivors can add Critical Expertise in Jails”

Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness: Ethical Challenges for Clinicians; In Response to Glowa-Kollisch et al. Thomas R. Blair Keramet A. Reiter Published July 2, 2015 To the Editors: Glowa-Kollisch and colleagues present a well-considered and pragmatically impactful examination of “dual loyalty” concerns for mental health professionals in New York City jails.[1] We appreciate their particular focus on solitary confinement, and their recognition that “many institutions employ health and mental health services…

Continue reading “Letter to the Editor and Author Response: Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness”

Fran Quigley   Representatives of Pacific Rim nations are negotiating a trade agreement that could negatively impact the health of millions. But the high-profile discussion about the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) also presents an opportunity for health advocates. This Perspective essay first reviews key proposed terms of the TPPA that would extend the flawed pharmaceutical patent regime and violate multiple human rights commitments. Second, the social movement to ensure…

Continue reading “The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Access to Medicines”

Agnès Binagwaho, Richard Freeman, Kirstin Scott, Anne Badrichani, Sardis Harward, Monique Mulindahabi, Corine Karema Published April 14, 2015 The procurement of high-quality medicines to combat major causes of avoidable suffering in sub-Saharan Africa—such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis—is instrumental to a nation’s health system.  Such products are indispensable for national systems to provide the highest attainable standard of health, a fundamental human right. The growth of international aid over the…

Continue reading “Improving international accountability—a tool for protecting health as a basic human right”

Tripti Tandon, Gabriel Armas-Cardona, Anand Grover Sex work and its relationship to trafficking is one of the more divisive policy issues of our times, as seen in the ongoing debate in Canada over a bill that views prostitution as inherently dangerous, affecting vulnerable women and offending their dignity.[1] At the risk of over-simplification, the two perspectives on sex work are: i) it is seen as a cause or consequence of,…

Continue reading “Sex Work and Trafficking: Can Human Rights Lead Us Out of the Impasse?”