Health and Human Rights News
News to 3 July 2026
UN, PHM call for solidarity to support Venezuela
A week on from the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, the deaths of more than 1,719 individuals have been confirmed. Around 12,000 people have been displaced, placing heightened demand on humanitarian aid, including medical care, food, water, sanitation, protection, and psychosocial and emotional support. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the People’s Health Movement alike have called for strengthened solidarity to support these emergency relief efforts and protect the right to health during this critical time.
UN Experts condemn death penalty
UN human rights experts including members of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, issued a joint statement condemning the death penalty as a violation of human dignity and perpetuator of discrimination. Chief Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk emphasized the capriciousness of the death penalty’s application and the use of executions to punish crimes such as drug-related offences, which are not deemed ‘most serious crimes’ under international law.
Duterte’s ‘War on Drugs’ continues a decade on
The policies implemented by former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte as part of his ‘war on drugs’ have not been rescinded by the nation’s present government, despite Duterte himself facing crimes against humanity charges by the International Criminal Court. Ten years on, the extrajudicial killings have decreased but illegal arrests have increased. “Filipinos are still being killed despite President Marcos’ promise to wage a more humane campaign against drugs,” said Human Rights Watch. “Marcos should declare an end to the ‘war on drugs’ and order investigations into drug-related killings by police and others.”
See also: The Politics of Drug Rehabilitation in the Philippines, Gideon Lasco and Lee Edson Yarcia, Volume 24/1, June 2022.
WHO Health Inequality Monitoring Network doubles
The World Health Organization’s Health Inequality Monitoring Network, launched a year ago, has now doubled to 24 members covering epidemiology and public health, data science and policy analysis from all regions. “Health inequality monitoring is fundamental to understanding who experiences poorer health outcomes, who has less access to health services, and which social, economic and environmental factors drive these disparities. Without robust data, health inequities remain hidden, limiting countries’ ability to design effective policies and allocate resources where they are needed most,” said WHO.
Progress to decrease air pollutants has stalled
Efforts to decrease air pollution globally have stalled since 2020, and individuals in low- and middle-income nations are exposed to 13 times higher levels of ambient and household pollution than people in high-income nations, affecting 6.5 billion people. The World Health Organization’s latest update to Sustainable Development Goal data tracking the connection between air pollution and health emphasizes that continued widespread lack of access to clean cooking stoves and fuels heightens public health risks.
Nations fail to prepare for unequal impacts of heat waves
Despite research confirming that high temperatures pose greater dangers to vulnerable groups, such as children, older people, and people with disabilities, nations are not preparing for these risks. Inadequate government climate planning or adaptation policies can be perilous for these people, says Human Rights Watch, responding to recent heat waves across Europe. The disproportionate physical and mental impacts on these communities, such as greater risk of difficulty breathing or cardiovascular strain, must be accounted for in policy.
See also: Climate Change and Economic Inequality: Are We Responding to Health Injustices? Thalia Viveros-Uehara, Vol 25/2, 2023
Australia ignores most UPR recommendations
In its written response to the UN Human Rights Council’s latest Universal Period Review of Australia, the government accepted only 128 out of 332 recommendations, and only 3 of 17 relating to climate change, refusing to commit to reforms for phasing out fossil fuels. “While Australia claims it is a global climate leader, the Albanese government continues to approve new fossil fuel projects,” said Human Rights Watch. It also rejected the ending offshore detention of asylum seekers, and incarcerating children as young as 10 years.
See also: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality: A Global Index to Monitor Government Action, Janani Shanthosh, Georgia White, Emma Feeny, et al. Vol 28/1, 2026
Sweden violates migrants’ right to health
The European Committee of Social Rights has found Sweden in violation of the European Social Charter for systematically denying migrants’ access to affordable healthcare. It does not provide subsidised healthcare to European Union immigrants who do not have health insurance. “The right to health is not a conditional right available only to those who can pay,” writes Anesty International. “It is a universal right, and the state’s obligation to provide appropriate and timely healthcare on a non-discriminatory basis does not disappear because a person happens to be an EU migrant rather than a Swedish resident.”
Realizing the right to health for Roma people requires reparation
Realizing the right to health for Roma people demands not only protections and improved access to care, but reparation for historical and ongoing anti-Roma racism and its impacts on health, write Margareta Matache and Eugene Richardson. They propose a right to remedy for historical injustice as a pathway to health equity and reparatory justice.
See also: Jekhipe Beyond the Nation-State: Collective Life in Matache’s The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism, BOOK REVIEW, Bram Wispelwey, Vol 28/1 2026
Surge in deaths in ICE custody
In the 500 days between President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025 and June 4, 2026, 52 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in the United States. The mortality rate of deaths in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade and has more than doubled since Trump’s second term began. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called for independent inquiries into all deaths in ICE custody and urged US immigration authorities to ensure detention facilities comply with international human rights law.
See also: Disaster Epidemiology: Human Rights and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Siege of Minneapolis, Joseph J. Amon, 28 January 2026
US deportees lack basic services in Mexico
Mexico has accepted thousands of non-Mexican individuals deported by the United States, but does not give them legal status, employment, or access to basic services. “Despite the secrecy shrouding the deportation arrangement with Mexico, one thing is clear: US immigration authorities have shown no consideration for the devastating impact of deportation on older people and those with health conditions,” writes Alcira Silva Hava of Human Rights Watch. Many are stranded in Mexico, unable to pay for necessary medicines.
Grave human rights situation in eastern DRC
In its first official update to the Human Rights Council, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Human Rights Situation in the South and North Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo shared testimonies from civilians detailing the widespread suffering in the region. Chair of the Commission stated, “We have received deeply troubling accounts concerning children, conflict-related sexual violence, including sexual slavery, forced recruitment, unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, and attacks against schools and health facilities,” describing the situation as one of exceptional gravity.
PHR–I encourages reporting of discrimination in health
Physicians for Human Rights–Israel is inviting people to use a new confidential reporting channel ‘First Line’ to document incidents of discrimination, racism and unethical conduct toward medical personnel or patients. Witnesses are encouraged to report these incidents to “ensure they are documented as part of a broader effort to analyze and address patterns of silencing, racism, and discrimination within Israel’s healthcare system.”
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