Advancing health equity in the global marketplace

How human rights can help

Bibliographic Data

ID4594628
AuthorsTed Schrecker (0000-0002-4447-5281, University of Ottawa), Audrey R Chapman (0000-0001-9269-3147, University of Connecticut), Ronald Labonté (0000-0002-0615-740X, University of Ottawa), Roberto De Vogli (0000-0003-4708-1429, University College London)
Year2010
Volume71
Issue8
Pages1520-1526
Publication date2010-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science & Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.06.042
PMID20822839
OpenAlexW2019050156
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited45

The WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) ascribed health disparities within and between countries to "a toxic combination of poor social policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements, and bad politics." This article analyzes the relevance of the international human rights framework (IHRF) to the Commission's goal of reducing health disparities with reference to both social scientific and legal scholarship. We begin with an overview of the IHRF, demonstrating its potential as a challenge to the normative foundations of the emerging global economic order. We then survey the research literature on mechanisms to ensure accountability for realization of health-related rights, emphasizing the potential effectiveness of making human rights enforceable through the courts, and the special need for mechanisms to hold countries and international institutions accountable for obligations related to the human right to health. We conclude by identifying three key directions for further research, policy and advocacy: comparative human rights litigation, specifically the willingness of courts to address broad policy and budgetary issues; the conditions under which governments legislate or constitutionalize economic and social rights; and how rich, powerful countries affect economic and social rights outside their borders

Accountability · Economics · Equity (law · Global health · Health care · Human rights · International human rights law · Law and economics · Normative · Political science · Public economics · Right to health · Social determinants of health · Social rights · Sociology · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Human Rights and Development · International Human Rights and Reproductive Law · Law · Public Administration · Health Policy