The Right to Health
Monitoring the Right to Health
Civil society organisations can assist UN human rights committees that are overseeing the implementation of international obligations, by producing shadow reports to the government reports. These shadow reports may complement and sometimes contradict the official country reports submitted to these UN committees. IFHHRO believes that with regards to health, health professionals have a crucial role and a responsibility to promote implementation of health-related rights and to document and spread information on infringements of rights within the health system.
IFHHRO defines monitoring the Right to Health as the participation of health professionals in the protection and promotion of health-related human rights by applying their medical skills and providing medical data. Some examples:
- Doctors and nurses can document inequalities in access to health care, clean water and sanitation due to poverty and/or discrimination.
- Forensic doctors can determine visible and invisible scars and wounds of torture.
- Epidemiologists can document the fluctuation of incidents of tuberculosis among disadvantaged groups.
- Psychiatrists can diagnose psychotrauma as a consequence of rape, domestic violence or civil war.
- National associations of health professionals can produce, translate and distribute guidelines and protocols, and train their members on how to use these.
To increase health professionals’ involvement in human rights work, IFHHRO’s activities focus on:
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Facilitating international cooperation and networking for health and human rights organisations
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Training staff of health and human rights organisations and committed health professionals in human rights monitoring
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Cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
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Supporting (new) member organisations, especially in the South.
More information on the Right to Health
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health: A Guide for Civil Society
IFHHRO, 2009
The Right to Health Fact Sheet No. 31
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights & WHO, 2008
The Right to Health: A Toolkit for Health Professionals
BMA, IFHHRO & Commat, 2007
Fact sheet Our right to the highest attainable standard of health
Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex & IFHHRO, 2007
The assessment of the right to health and health care at the country level. A People’s Health Movement Guide
People’s Health Movement, October 2006
The right to health. A fundamental human right affirmed by the United Nations and recognized in regional treaties and numerous national constitutions
M. Özden, Centre Europe - Tiers Monde (CETIM), 2006
The Right to Health: A Resource Manual for NGOs
Judith Asher, Commat, 2004 (186 p.)
CESCR General Comment No.14 on the Right to Health
CESCR, 2000
Since February 2013, over 20 people held in custody in Guantanamo Bay have been in hunger strike. There are reports that the US has sent in doctors and nurses, who assist in forced feeding, a recogniced violation of human rights and a breach of medical ethics.
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