Governments 'must include human rights in health policy'

[struggle4progress]

Wednesday, 10 Dec 2008 04:01
Study says governments 'must include human rights in health policy'

... A special report published online today - Human Rights day and the 60-year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - said governments must be held to account over their health systems' adherence to international human rights law.

The right to health, enshrined in the UDHR, is integral to subsequent human rights treaties but is frequently overlooked by health sectors around the world, the researchers found.

And though the majority of countries have ratified three major human rights treaties that include the right to health, only 56 have the right included in their constitution or statute book ...

Published in the Lancet medical journal, the report urges the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the high commissioner for human rights to steward national governments' inclusion of right-to-health features in their constitution ... http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/politics/governments-must-include-human-rights-in-health-policy--$1253646.htm