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Effective and full implementation of the right to health framework, including justiciability of ESCR and the right to health; the progressive realisation of the right to health; the accountability deficit of transnational corporations; and the current ... 2014, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- International investment agreements may provide for exceptions that can be used by States to defend laws in the public interest, such as public health laws. Even where international investment agreements contain such exceptions, however, investor rights may trump them. After Uruguay had entered into a bilateral investment treaty with Switzerland, it adopted public health measures on the packaging and advertisement of cigarettes, in accordance with local laws, which were enacted pursuant to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Although those measures accorded with the public health exception in the bilateral investment treaty, Phillip Morris International initiated a dispute against Uruguay, claiming that its law was unreasonable and breached the guarantee of fair and equitable treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination, de jure and de facto, continues to influence mental health services, depriving users of a variety of rights, including the rights to refuse treatment, to legal capacity and to privacy, and other civil and political rights. The role of psychiatry and other mental health professions is particularly important and measures are needed to ensure that their professional practices do not perpetuate stigma and discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Finally, States should refrain from interfering with athletes' health rights by means of laws, policies or programmes involving forced or coercive medical treatments or experimentation, such as doping, conducted in order to enhance sporting ability among athletes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Such costs often have a significant and disproportionate impact on the poor, who pay a considerably larger portion of their total income on health. In turn, they drive many households into poverty or deepen the poverty of those already poor. Such fees could bar those without the means to pay from receiving needed care, as well as discourage people from seeking care in the first place.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Poverty
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- In line with the life-cycle approach, the Special Rapporteur will dedicate his next thematic report to the challenges to, opportunities for and best practices in promoting the right to health in early childhood. He will analyse two interdependent and indivisible rights directly related to the right to health: the right to survival and the right to development during first five years of life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- However, after more than a decade since the publication of the landmark World Health Report 2001, mental health remains hostage to outdated attitudes and inadequate services. Studies show that, in many instances, there is either no access to mental health services at all, or those services are stigmatizing and violate human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- As the global health agenda moves from a survival to a survival and development agenda, the Special Rapporteur urges high-income States to support low-income States in their endeavour to enhance the promotion and protection of the right to health in early childhood, including its developmental dimensions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, States should mobilize more political will and resources and facilitate the meaningful involvement of all relevant stakeholders, in particular civil society actors, in the realization of goals and targets of the sustainable development goals related to early childhood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- These elements can be safeguarded through best practices such as planned, safe pregnancy and childbirth; exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months followed by appropriate complementary feeding and responsive parenting; preventive interventions such as vaccines for the treatment of diseases; protection from violence, neglect and abuse; and the reduction of environmental risks.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Health, survival and development are not sequential but are intrinsically linked and simultaneous processes. Early childhood programmes should continue to pursue objectives that include survival and health in the short term, but they should more consistently go beyond to embrace healthy development and health throughout life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to medicines in the context of the right-to-health framework 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Pricing policies of pharmaceutical industries greatly impact the affordability of medicines. Under the right to health, pharmaceutical companies have a shared responsibility to ensure that the prices of their medicines do not put them out of the reach of a majority of the population. Earlier tiered pricing of essential medicines was the norm, whereby essential medicines were sold systematically at a lower price in developing countries as compared to developed countries. Later many multinationals however opted for universal tiered prices. Tiered pricing policies have now re-emerged. Some multinational companies now engage in tiered pricing between and within countries, based on income levels (equity based pricing), which can be profitable for companies due to increases in volume and attractive to developing countries due to reductions in prices. In practice, however, tiered pricing has been limited to certain medicines such as ARVs, vaccines and contraceptives. Moreover, given the lack of guarantee of low prices and the diminished role for government decision-making in such pricing policies, alternatives such as promoting robust market competition have been recommended as good practices with a view to lowering the prices of medicines.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Health
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in conflict situations 2013, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The majority of contemporary conflicts are non-international armed conflicts involving one or more non-State armed groups. These non-State armed groups may significantly affect the enjoyment of the right to health in conflict. One study has found that non-State armed groups are as likely as State forces to attack or interfere with health facilities, and nearly twice as likely to enter hospitals for illegitimate purposes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in conflict situations 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, acceptability requires health facilities, goods and services to be in line with medical ethics. This includes provision of impartial care and services by health professionals to people affected by conflict. Medical impartiality in treating wounded people is also mandated by international humanitarian law. Therefore, health professionals have obligations vis-à-vis provision of health services to people affected and/or involved in conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to health and development 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- These processes - participation-based empowerment intervention strategies - are grounded in the right to health framework, and had a broad impact on factors reducing vulnerability of sex workers to infection with HIV and other STDs. Outcomes of these processes also included improved knowledge of STDs and condom protection and the establishment of social support amongst sex workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Modern health systems and modern health policies should not be limited to a biomedical model of addressing separate diseases and managing them with advanced biomedical interventions. Addressing social and other underlying determinants of health by applying modern principles of health promotion, primary care, mental health and integrated health and social services is legally required by the right to health, including in early childhood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize that universal health coverage must be understood as consistent with the right to health. While some components of targets 3.7 and 3.8, namely universal coverage, financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services, access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, can be read as consistent with the right to health, they obscure vital right-to-health standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur concurs with his predecessors that a comprehensive right-to-health approach is necessary, which includes decriminalization of sexual orientation and gender identities, certain behaviours and health status, as well as the establishment of conducive legal and administrative frameworks with emphasis on human rights education, meaningful participation and empowerment of the groups targeted, and serious efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination in society as a whole.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective and full implementation of the right to health framework, including justiciability of ESCR and the right to health; the progressive realisation of the right to health; the accountability deficit of transnational corporations; and the current ... 2014, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Courts are experienced in adjudicating the immediate obligation of non discrimination with regard to health. For example, in Eldrige v. British Columbia (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada found that the Medical and Health Care Services Act discriminated against deaf and hard of hearing people because its lack of provision for sign language interpreters denied them equal benefits under the law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Migrant worker’s right to health 2013, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Agricultural work is associated with particular occupational health risks. For example, exposure to pesticides and other farm chemicals has been linked to elevated distress levels, depression, neurological problems and miscarriages. Heavy and repetitive manual work also places great strain on the body, with associated risks of musculoskeletal injuries. Such risks must be addressed legislatively through enforceable occupational health and safety regulation and mechanisms for remedial action.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- States must take measures to ensure that legal and safe abortion services are available, accessible, and of good quality. Safe abortions, however, will not immediately be available upon decriminalization unless States create conditions under which they may be provided. These conditions include establishing available and accessible clinics; the provision of additional training for physicians and health-care workers; enacting licensing requirements; and ensuring the availability of the latest and safest medicines and equipment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Decriminalization and de-penalization have the potential to diminish the risks associated with drug use and increase participation of people who use drugs in drug treatment. In Portugal, drug use decreased in absolute terms across key demographic categories following decriminalization, and both drug-related mortality and new cases of HIV among people dependent on drugs decreased. The number of people undertaking substitution therapy also rose from 6,040 to 14,877 between 1999 and 2003.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Restricted access to opioids has an obvious impact on the availability of OST (see discussion in section VI below). However, there are three other primary areas in which access to controlled medicines is essential: (a) management of moderate to severe pain, including as part of palliative care for people with life-limiting illnesses; (b) certain emergency obstetric situations; and (c) management of epilepsy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Some States criminalize the carrying of needles, syringes and other drug paraphernalia, contrary to the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Fear of arrest and criminal sanctions might deter individuals from accessing needle and syringe programmes and carrying sterile equipment, which increases the likelihood of unsterile equipment use and disease transmission. Legislation penalizing people carrying such equipment - including outreach workers - has been recognized as a barrier to HIV control.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The inclusion of new disorders in DSM-5 referred to above have led some to question whether the updated edition inadvertently functioned as a vehicle for high-profit patent extensions. It was found that in the majority of clinical trials testing drugs for new DSM disorders (e.g., “Binge-eating disorder”), there were commercial ties between DSM-5 panel members and the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured the drugs that were being tested for these new disorders. This is not to suggest any wrongdoing on the part of DSM panel members, but rather to emphasize the economies of influence at play and that transparency alone is an insufficient measure for systemic problems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- In the health sector, low-income and other groups in vulnerable situations are affected the most by corruption and a lack of transparency. Lower-income groups have the most difficulty affording the informal payments that are often required to receive the medical treatment they need. In health-care settings that face a high level of corruption, the poorer sections of the population and those who live in rural areas may suffer longer waiting periods at public health clinics and are also more frequently denied vaccines than rich and urban sections of the population. Health sector corruption can also lead to discrimination more directly when health-care providers and professionals treat patients differently according to their income and their contact with the medical profession.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Health reforms introduce organizational changes that can mitigate corruption but may also open new channels for abuse. As discussed during the expert consultation held in Bangkok, transferring responsibility for public health facilities from national to local governments may make them more accountable and less corrupt, but it can also create opportunities for local officials to divert resources for personal gain. Deregulation can eliminate requirements that are exploited by public officials to charge bribes, but it can also eliminate rules and oversight that are necessary to protect the public against unscrupulous actors. Permitting doctors to combine public and private practices is often justified as assuring staffing of public facilities, but may create situations where patients cannot obtain treatment to which they are entitled in public facilities, either because doctors are unavailable or because they encourage patients to see them privately.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Despite the right to health obligation to provide psychosocial interventions and support, they are sadly viewed as luxuries, rather than essential treatments, and therefore lack sustainable investment in health systems. That is despite evidence demonstrating that they are effective. These are essential interventions, which produce positive health outcomes and safeguard individuals from potentially harmful, more invasive medicalization. Importantly, they can include simple, low-cost, short-term interventions delivered within regular community health-care settings. Nurses, general practitioners, midwives, social workers and community health workers must be equipped with psychosocial skills to ensure accessibility, integration and sustainability. Psychosocial interventions, not medication, should be the first-line treatment options for the majority of people who experience mental health issues.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- In view of that obligation, it is troubling that mental health is still neglected in development cooperation and other international policies on health financing. Between 2007 and 2013, only 1 per cent of international health aid went to mental health. In times of humanitarian crises, in both the relief and recovery stages, international support must include psychosocial support to strengthen resilience in the face of enormous adversity and suffering. Elsewhere, where cooperation has been provided, it has prioritized the improvement of existing psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities that are inherently incompatible with human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The modern understanding of mental health is shaped by paradigm shifts often marked by a combination of improvements and failures in evidence-based and ethical care. This began 200 years ago with the desire to unchain the “mad” in prison dungeons and moved to the introduction of psychotherapies, shock treatments, and psychotropic medications in the 20th century. The pendulum of how individual pathology is explained has swung between the extremes of a “brainless mind” and a “mindless brain”. Recently, through the disability framework, the limitations of focusing on individual pathology alone have been acknowledged, locating disability and well-being in the broader terrain of personal, social, political, and economic lives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur would like to highlight two key messages of the modern public mental-health approach. Firstly, there is no health without mental health. Secondly, good mental health means much more than absence of a mental impairment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph