VOLUME 20 ISSUE 1
AUTUNM 2009
DHR’s 20th anniversary ... continued from page one
The 12th World Congress on Public Health Istanbul, 27 April to 1 May 2009
known in 2004) has focused on both civil and political rights violations (eg genocide, torture, death penalty), as well as economic, social and cultural rights (eg health rights, education, social security) consistent with the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of
In April DHR chair Peter Hall spoke on the right to the highest attainable standard of health at the 12th World Congress on Public Health on Tuesday 28th April.
Action that 'All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated’.
The presentation, which was entitled 'The right to the highest attainable standard of health: an ethos in search of a profession' was simultaneously translated into Turkish.
This eclectic approach has been vindicated by the findings of the UN Commission on Social Determinants of Health led by one of DHR’s first
There were just under 2,380 participants from 142 countries participating in the World Congress. At any one time twelve scientific sessions were going on at once - apart that is from the rare plenary sessions.
members, Sir Michael Marmot. The 2008 report Closing the gap leave no doubt as to the crucial importance of the conditions of daily life - the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age - to health. But there remains much to be done, not least among doctors whose understanding of health rights is sketchy. Many are sceptical of their relevance to healthcare despite their being the ally of good medical practice and scourge of inadequate resources. As the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health explained to the UN Human Rights Council in 2007, the right to the highest attainable standard of health is one of the most extensive and
The presentation echoed one of DHR’s three main strategic activities - to encourage the medical profession to adopt the right to the highest attainable standard of health as defined by Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economical, Social and Cultural Rights and General Comment 14 that define states’ obligations, health entitlements, and their ethical implementation using human rights principles. Gratifyingly, although it cannot be claimed as due to DHR’s presentation, at the end of the conference the participants of the 12th World Congress on Public Health unanimosly declared and affirmed the Istanbul Declaration - that health is the first human right.
complex human rights in the international lexicon, and it cannot be realised without health professionals. As Professor Paul Hunt in his 2006 speech to the International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (of which DHR is a member) pointed out, the right to a fair trial would not have become so widely accepted and implemented without the active support of lawyers. “Equally,” he continued “the right to health will not animate health policies and systems without greater support from health professionals. This, it seems to me, is one of our greatest challenges: how to educate more health professionals about the practical utility of human rights”.
HEALTH IS CONTINGENT UPON RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
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wwww.doctorsforhumanrights.org