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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
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
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
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
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 39
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- 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
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
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- The urgent need for a shift in approach should prioritize policy innovation at the population level, targeting social determinants and abandon the predominant medical model that seeks to cure individuals by targeting “disorders”.
- 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
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
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- States should provide mechanisms through which normative review and legal enforcement, as pertains to alleged health rights violations, can occur. There should be no barrier to the investigation and prosecution of such incidents, as competitive and amateur sports are as subject to international human rights law as any other activity undertaken within a State's jurisdiction. As an interim option or an alternative, it may be necessary or most effective for States to create independent complaints and monitoring mechanisms, potentially using existing human rights institutions, that people can utilize in the event of an alleged breach of their right to health in the sporting context. These could allow for redress and remedy through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as mediation and arbitration. However, this should not preclude the referral of serious violations to national courts, especially allegations of criminal activity, which must be treated as criminal activity as in any other setting.
- 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
- 2016
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- States should take action to ensure that sufficient resources and infrastructure are devoted to enabling people to access and participate in sport and physical activity, as part of a broader strategy to encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Three primary steps must be taken by States in this regard. Firstly, States should immediately include the facilitation and promotion of physical activity and healthy lifestyles in national planning, if this has not already been done. Secondly, quality physical education programmes, including in school and health-care settings, should be established (or updated) in accordance with human rights standards. Finally, progressive implementation, expansion and/or improvement of goods, facilities, services and information provision relevant to sport and healthy lifestyles should be undertaken, subject to resource constraints.
- 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
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Participation of a diverse cross section of civil society, especially user groups, affected communities and grass-roots activists, is essential to ensuring implementation of a global agenda that is inclusive and meaningful for all. The right to health requires that participation be active and meaningful and thus move beyond tokenistic modes of representation. This requires resource mobilization and establishing various mechanisms for civil society to engage with national, regional and international Sustainable Development Goal processes, including the high-level political forum on sustainable development (Goal 17).
- 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
- 2016
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- States will not achieve Goal 3 without a robust commitment to addressing social and psychosocial determinants of health, as well as inequalities in income, education, living and working conditions and distribution of resources. Universal health coverage must not be limited to biomedical interventions such as medicines and vaccines but must equally include modern interventions that go beyond the biomedical model, including psychosocial and other interventions that address structural and environmental barriers to health. These interventions should be supported and funded as effective and essential interventions, on par with biomedical interventions, and should not be seen as a luxury available only to rich countries.
- 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
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- In the consultations connected with the present report, new initiatives reported by States indicated great interest and creativity in regard to the promotion of sport and healthy lifestyles. These included a "Health Academy" programme incorporated into a basic health-care scheme (Brazil); the removal of taxes on sporting goods (Brunei and Mauritius); frameworks for the inclusion of minority groups, namely Roma (Bulgaria); the recognition of sport as a cultural right (Finland); the implementation of school sports programmes, such as "Sports Olympiads" (Georgia); free public sports programmes, including Zumba dancing (Honduras), aerobics classes (Malta) and "School of Health" volunteer-led exercise classes (Slovenia); doctors "prescribing" exercise to patients (Israel); an annual "Sports Day" (Qatar); and citizen-led cycling groups (Saudi Arabia).
- 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
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
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 102e
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that national human rights institutions, non-State actors and sporting bodies:] Review all policies and operations concerning major sporting events and professional sporting competitions for compliance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and put in place protective mechanisms for athletes, workers and citizenry (international/national sporting bodies; private actors).
- 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
- 2016
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 102a
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that national human rights institutions, non-State actors and sporting bodies:] Periodically and independently monitor and promote realization of the right to health in the context of sport and physical activity (national human rights institutions and civil society);
- 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
- 2016
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 101c
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Create or enforce national human rights protection mechanisms applicable to amateur and professional athletes, ensuring access to justice and redress in the event of rights violations;
- 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
- 2016
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
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
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- A number of entities involved in the organization and operation of major sporting events and competitions incur indirect rights obligations: the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, and the Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA), among others. These bodies have a vital role to play in implementing policies and activities aimed at realizing the right to health in the sporting context. Enhancement of protection of the human rights of athletes should not be perceived as a threat to the continued operation of major events but rather as a means of increasing the confidence of athletes and the public in the integrity of sporting institutions.
- 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
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Intersex refers mainly to physical aspects of the body and includes a wide range of natural body variations that do not conform to prevailing notions of male and female bodies. Deeply rooted stereotypes around gender dichotomy and medical norms about male and female bodies have led to the establishment of a medical practice of routine interventions and surgeries on intersex people, including irreversible genital surgery and sterilization. These interventions are not always necessary on medical grounds and are often not performed with the informed consent of the persons concerned. Moreover, medical classifications currently codify intersex characteristics as pathologies or disorders.
- 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
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Mental health deserves much more attention and must be effectively mainstreamed within the Sustainable Development Goals through the goals and benchmarks related to health and sustainable development. The high number of suicides and suicide attempts are an indicator that the mental health of individuals and population needs to be addressed very seriously. Concerted and effective measures need to be applied to substantively address this challenge and reduce the numbers of suicides, which have in many countries reached epidemic rates. The Special Rapporteur will further analyse the relevance of human rights in addressing suicide and other mental health issues as a public health challenge.
- 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
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- On the issue of drug policy, the work of the Special Rapporteur's predecessors has shown that the current international system's punitive regime, which focuses on creating a drug-free world, has failed mostly owing to ignorance of the realities surrounding drug use and dependence (see A/65/255). There is a need for a shift in the current drug control regime away from substance-oriented policies and an increased focus on human rights. Evidence has shown that the criminalization of certain behaviours leads to a reluctance to seek help, including health-related services, and this should be a concern to the authorities. Pursuing overly punitive approaches has resulted in more health-related harms than those the authorities seek to prevent.
- 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
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The historical divide, both in policies and practices, between mental and physical health has unfortunately resulted in political, professional and geographical isolation, marginalization and stigmatization of mental health care.
- 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
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
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
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
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Accountability is essential if the right to health is to be more than window dressing. International human rights law provides a legal basis for accountability. The three primary components of accountability are monitoring, review and redress. Multiple administrative, political and legal accountability processes have a role to play in guaranteeing the right to health, including survival and development, in early childhood. These mechanisms should provide accountability for the protection of the rights to health and healthy development in early childhood in national policies, programmes and plans and in the delivery of services and enable individuals and groups to seek redress where this has not happened.
- 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
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The end of twentieth century brought two main messages to the international community. The first message was about the centrality of mental health in the modern health policies, based on the high burden of mental-health problems and mental disorders. The second message was that, contrary to the previous understanding, effective measures are possible if outdated traditions are abandoned and the modern public health approach is applied. In the twenty-first century there is no place for psychiatric institutions based on stigma and segregation, and there is a need, in words of G.H. Brundtland "to ensure that ours will be the last generation that allows shame and stigma to rule over science and reason".
- 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
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
Paragraph