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Have you ever thought about how important your overall health is? The UN decided that health and access to high-quality health care are so important that they should be considered Human Rights. But what exactly are human rights? How do health and human rights interact? Are there particular human rights legislations that incorporate health? Let's find out!
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenHave you ever thought about how important your overall health is? The UN decided that health and access to high-quality health care are so important that they should be considered Human Rights. But what exactly are human rights? How do health and human rights interact? Are there particular human rights legislations that incorporate health? Let's find out!
Human Rights are basic principles that every person is entitled to from birth to death. They are designed to ensure that people have good quality living standards. Human rights encompass civil, economic, political, cultural, and social rights, and within these principles lies health.
But what relationship do human rights and health have? Well, human rights and health go hand in hand because the right to health is a human right. The World Health Organization states that:
... the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right of every human being. ¹
Understanding health as a human right shows the relationship between health and human rights. It creates an obligation for countries to ensure access to affordable and appropriate quality health care and factors that influence health, such as safe water, sanitation, food, housing, health education, and gender equality.
Health is so vital that not only is it a right in and of itself, but medical care and access to healthy food are also human rights because they lead to good health.
The definition of what constitutes human development is contested. The word 'development' itself implies progress is being made. Progress is traditionally measured using economic data, particularly GDP and the shift from primary industries such as farming towards manufacturing and the service sector. However, many other methods of measuring development have been created since the GDP that looks at people's health through measures such as Life Expectancy and well-being. Let's look into health's role in measuring human development.
Life Expectancy determines the average age of death within a given population. It is a vital metric that determines the health and development of a population, as higher life expectancies suggest better healthcare, sanitation, and access to basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Many High Income Countries (HICs), such as Japan, Spain, and Switzerland have life expectancies of over 83 years. The Central African Republic has the lowest Life Expectancy of 53 years (statistics from 2019).² Low Income Countries (LICs) tend to have low life expectancies.
The Human Development Index was devised by the United Nations to show progress through people and their capabilities. HDI uses more than one indicator and is a composite measure of four data sets.
It is calculated by converting each indicator into an index figure with a value ranging from 0 to 1. The three index figures are then averaged, giving us the HDI. In 2019 the highest-scoring HDI country was Norway. This was due to a stable government, widespread education, and healthcare, high life expectancy, and growing, powerful economies.
The lowest-scoring country was Niger, with contributory factors such as an unstable government, low income, and low life expectancy with high birth rates. Lack of access to healthcare and education was also seen as contributing to this poor score showing that health is an integral part of this index.
Fig. 1 - Countries ranked in the "Very High" category of HDI 2019
The Happy Planet Index is a measure of sustainable well-being. This combines environmental data on sustainability with social data on satisfaction and health.
The three indicators used are:
The calculation is as follows: experience of well-being x life expectancy / ecological footprint. The scores are indicated with a measurement between 0 to 100. It is different from most measures as it does not feature an economic component and focuses less on material wealth but on the happiness and health of people. Indices such as the Happy Planet Index where the experience of well-being is an index of human development imply that having good mental health is an important factor in human development.
Fig. 2 - The Happy Planet Index map of the world 2019
Human rights are moral principles describing certain standards of human behaviour and are thus protected as legal rights in national and international law. Although the concept of 'natural rights' had already been around, the concept of human rights became prominent during the 17th and 18th centuries, during the Enlightenment and the American and French revolutions. 'Natural rights' are basic rights that include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as written in the American Declaration of Independence.
With the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nation in 1948, human rights became a precondition for the possibility of a just society. The European Convention on Human Rights has was established in 1949 to create a better relationship between countries after the Second World War. In the UK, the European Convention on Human Rights has built a framework for Human Rights laws.
The Human Rights Act of 1998, based on the European Convention of Human Rights, allows UK residents (regardless of their citizenship) to defend their rights in UK courts and compels public organisations, including the government, police, and local councils, to treat everyone equally, with fairness, dignity, and respect. It helps to protect vulnerable people in the communities and highlights the areas where health and social care are needed. Here are ten examples of the Articles that are covered in the Act and protect human rights: 3
The Human Rights Act protects people's mental health as it outlines that staff and service providers need to treat people with dignity and respect. Particular articles are important to people with mental health problems. The right to life applies to hospitals taking steps to protect life if at risk. The right not to be tortured is relevant as there can be cases of long-term treatment within hospitals and care homes, and treatment in inhuman or degrading ways can happen. The right not to be discriminated against is important to protect people with mental health issues as there are stigmas and discrimination towards people with mental health problems.
The Mental Health Act 1983, which was updated in 2007, is an piece of legislation that refers to the rights of people with mental health problems regarding access to hospitals both civil or criminal, assessment and treatment in hospitals, and treatment in the community. It is important to understand the rights under the Mental Health Act as people can be detained or sectioned under the act and this can lead to losing certain rights such as the right to leave the hospital freely.
The attitudes toward human rights differ among countries can create health and human rights issues, as some may prioritise economic growth over human rights and health. The argument for this, used by countries such as China, is that human rights follow economic development. Democratic countries tend to put high importance on health and human rights. For instance, Scandinavian countries are ranked as 'free' on the 'Freedom in the World' index, which means that they respect political competition and civil liberties. The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights (1990)is an agreement signed by countries who hold a view of human rights through Islam, instead of being involved with the universal declaration of human rights.
Human rights can also vary within countries due to inequality between genders and ethnicities. These factors are influenced by governmental laws and policies, as well as the situation in countries post-colonisation. Human rights tend to be violated due to poverty, lack of education, and lack of law enforcement, which ties in with human development.
There are differences in health and life expectancy in various parts of the country which can be related to inequality. Comparing the life expectancies across the UK, the South has the highest life expectancies and compared to places in the North, there is up to a ten-year difference. This is due to economic decline in areas that are often affected by Deindustrialisation causing unemployment and deprivation. There are some of the lowest life expectancies and highest deprivation levels in former mining towns and villages in Scotland and Wales. Having densely populated cities can also lead to infectious diseases spreading quickly affecting the life expectancies in large cities such as Manchester, London, and Birmingham.
There are health inequalities between ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic groups. Traditionally men would be occupationally involved in work that was hazardous such as mining and would have a lower life expectancy. However, in recent years, there are unequal access to healthcare services and treatment and discrimination from healthcare providers due to sex or gender. Ethnicity is also a factor that can determine access to healthcare services. There can be physical isolation from services such as no healthcare services available in the community. Socioeconomic groups can have health inequality as well. In low socio-economic groups, there are more physically demanding jobs which can create higher health risks.
There are more than ten, among them:
The Human Rights Act lets you defend your rights in UK courts and compels public organisations, including the government, police and local councils, to treat everyone equally, with fairness, dignity and respect.
The three main causes of human rights violations are poverty, lack of education, and lack of law enforcement.
Health and human rights have a relationship as health is a fundamental human right. Understanding of health as a human right creates an obligation for countries to ensure access to affordable and appropriate quality of health care as well as factors that influence health such as safe water, sanitation, food, housing, health education and gender equality.
Health and human rights are important because it helps to protect vulnerable people in the communities and highlights the areas where health and social care are needed.
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SIGNUP SIGNUPFlashcards in Health and Human Rights171
Start learningHow has human development been measured traditionally?
Economic data, in particular GDP
Human rights tend to be violated due to _____, lack of _____, and _____ of ____ enforcement, which ties in with human development.
Poverty, education, lack law
Which of the below is the cause of the difference in life expectancy across the UK?
What is the relationship between health and human rights?
Human rights and health go hand in hand because the right to health is seen as a human right.
Which of the following affects health inequality?
Ethnicity
The attitudes toward human rights differ among countries can create health and human rights issues, as some may prioritise _____ _____ over human rights and health.
Economic growth
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