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Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The right to health is recognized in the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) and protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties which are binding on States parties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Additionally, regional human rights treaties and many domestic constitutions protect the right to health. These international treaties and domestic laws obligate States to take action to respect, protect and fulfil the right to health and to address corruption where it interferes with their right-to-health obligations. They should inform responses to corruption alongside other legal instruments, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Community empowerment initiatives working with poor and marginalized communities have achieved extraordinary health outcomes, for example in the global fight to end HIV/AIDS (target 3.3) (E/HLPF/2016/2, para. 107). Economic and social empowerment, such as the decriminalization of sex work and sex worker mobilization, have improved health and identified critical health gaps (Goals 3 and 5). Community mobilization to attain adequate and stable housing for homeless people living with HIV can have life-saving implications for their health (targets 3.3 and 11.1). Efforts to empower parents in vulnerable situations through participatory parental education initiatives reduce the risk of negative health outcomes for their children (Goal 3 and targets 4.2, 5.2 and 16.2). When young girls have access to education, child mortality rates and girls' long-term health improve (Goals 3, 4 and 5) (A/70/213, para. 9). Investments in such initiatives place the human rights principles of autonomy and participation at the centre of public health policy and are critical components of an open, inclusive and peaceful 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
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Health workers and other professionals such as social workers have a very important role to play in supporting positive and responsive parenting. States should ensure that there are an adequate number of general practitioners, paediatricians, nurses and other relevant health-care professionals trained to work with children. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that the training and practice of medical doctors, nurses and other health professionals continues to focus predominantly on the biomedical determinants of health. Health-care services and all relevant professionals should be better equipped with relevant knowledge and practical skills to respond proactively to new knowledge about the negative impact of social determinants and early childhood adversities on the physical and mental health of children. For example, nurses and social workers, who visit families with young children should be trained to address issues related to the emotional and cognitive development of children and should be able to provide parents with the knowledge and basic skills necessary for nurturing and responsive parenting and non-violent ways of bringing up children.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Accordingly, the focus should be on building resilience, supporting parents, stimulating adequate help-seeking behaviours, creating positive peer groups and school environments, ensuring opportunities for influence and decision-making, increasing empowerment and emotional literacy. Furthermore, such programmes can also address risk behaviours such as bullying, suicidal behaviour, domestic violence and substance use.
- 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
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Prevention of mental health problems and promotion of mental well-being in adolescence should be a central part of national health policies. Action plans should include programmes for evidence-based interventions that are well-funded and monitored and that aim to reinforce protective factors within adolescents, their families and communities.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Policies designed to protect families and family values should avoid measures that undermine the human rights of individual family members, including women, adolescents and younger children. Such approaches can be detrimental as they may, in the name of traditional values, tolerate or condone violence, reinforce unequal power relations within family settings and, therefore, deprive adolescents from the opportunity to exercise their basic 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
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Safe and supportive families are crucial to helping adolescents develop to their full potential and attain the best health into adulthood. Therefore, support of the family environment is very important for the physical and mental health of children and adolescents. States should develop policies and services that support families and strengthen their parenting competencies so that all children can grow in healthy family environments.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The family, in its diverse forms and arrangements, refers to the essential environment for the well-being, protection and development of children and adolescents. The recognition of diverse family forms is necessary to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of all of children and adolescents, without discrimination of any sort.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- The resilience and the protective factors in individuals, families communities and societies need to be promoted, and more investment in healthy human relationships, emotional and social well-being and social capital is required. The empowerment of all stakeholders - without exception - is an effective way of addressing major public health threats and violations of human rights, including the right to health.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The "policy approach", if implemented effectively, creates valuable opportunities for social innovations through the empowerment of citizens, families, communities and societies at large. By using modern concepts of health promotion and public health, this approach can also facilitate the meaningful participation of all stakeholders and reinforce the protective factors and resilience of individuals and communities.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- In the context of children under 5 years of age participation means two separate things. First, it means ensuring that parents, or other representatives, are able to access the information required for them to develop an informed opinion about the child's health status and potential interventions and to participate thoroughly in decision-making processes that affect their children's health, survival and development.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Gender biases within families give rise to a range of inequalities that obstruct the optimal development of the girl child. Where gender inequalities persist, boys may receive greater medical attention and girls may be vulnerable to discriminatory feeding patterns.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Considering that mental health services are often underfunded, the resulting low-quality residential and in-patient psychiatric services lead to over-medicalization, violence and other forms of violations of children’s rights. These must be abandoned or substantially transformed and more importantly, programmes to respond to childhood adversity must be organized around participatory frameworks that recognize children as rights holders, respect their evolving capacities and empower children and families to improve their mental health and well-being.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Since the adoption of the Convention in 1989, there has been increasing evidence of "new morbidities" in childhood related to the understanding that physical and mental health in early childhood are affected by the environment, including relationships within the family, the community and the broader society. This understanding has led to positioning developmental and behavioural issues becoming central components of modern paediatrics.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Migrant worker’s right to health 2013, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The International Labour Organization (ILO), through various conventions and recommendations places obligations on States and certain duties to recruitment agencies, requiring them to take steps to prevent abuse and exploitation of migrant workers. It focuses on occupational health and safety of migrant workers and recommends measures to promote reunification of families, which can have a positive effect on mental health as it provides social support to migrant 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)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Home care is generally understood as medical services performed by professionals in the patient's home, as opposed to care provided in specialized institutions. It generally allows older persons a greater degree of autonomy over their lives than institutional care. However, home care should be understood as medical home care delivered by health professionals, as opposed to informal care that is provided by family members or other individuals.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Older persons
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, health and other professionals working with children should be trained on human rights and on early child development and the impact of the quality of relationships on physical and mental health during childhood and throughout life. Paediatricians, all other medical doctors and other relevant health professionals should play a more proactive role in educating families, childcare providers, teachers, policymakers, civic leaders and the general public about the health-related aspects of early child development.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Migrant worker’s right to health 2013, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Rights of migrant workers are explicitly recognized under a number of international law instruments. The 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families details the rights of migrant workers and their families throughout the entire migration process, tailoring the obligation of States according to the stage of migration, including departure from and return to sending States, and transit and employment in receiving States.
- 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
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In terms of affordability, health-care providers can make health-care services more expensive by demanding payments (informal or under-the-table payments), which can put treatment out of reach and be a matter of life or death, contribute to morbidity or impoverish patients and their families. The payment of bribes by patients for privileged care is common in many countries and results in discriminatory access to care, with wealthier patients likely to access care more easily than those that are too poor to pay bribes. As a result of bribery in procurement processes, medicines may be more expensive.
- 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
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Peer support, when not compromised, is an integral part of recovery-based services. It provides hope and empowers people to learn from each other, including through peer support networks, recovery colleges, club houses and peer-led crisis houses. Open Dialogue, a successful mental health system, has entirely replaced emergency, medicalized treatment in Lapland. Other non-coercive models include mental health crisis units, respite houses, community development models for social inclusion, personal ombudsmen, empowerment psychiatry and family support conferencing. The Soteria House project is a long-standing recovery-based model, which has been recreated in many countries. The increasing availability of alternatives and education and training on the use of non-consensual measures are critical indicators for measuring overall progress towards compliance with the right to health.
- 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
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- While the paradigm shift in mental health requires a move towards integrated and population-based services, mental distress will still occur and rights-based treatment responses are required. The interventions used to address serious cases are perhaps the biggest indictment of the biomedical tradition. Coercion, medicalization and exclusion, which are vestiges of traditional psychiatric care relationships, must be replaced with a modern understanding of recovery and evidence-based services that restore dignity and return rights holders to their families and communities. People can and do recover from even the most severe mental health conditions and go on to live full and rich 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- The recognition by WHO of the importance of developing rights-based strategies, which promote and protect the mental health of entire populations, is welcomed. Individual and social factors, cultural values and the social experiences of everyday life in families, schools, the workplace and communities influence the mental health of each person. The fact that children spend a significant amount of time in schools and most adults at the workplace, means that rights-based action must promote healthy, safe and enabling environments that are free from violence, discrimination and other forms of abuse. Likewise, a person’s mental health affects life within those domains and is integral to shaping the health of communities and populations. Population-based approaches to mental health promotion move health systems beyond individualized responses towards action on a range of structural barriers and inequalities (social determinants) that can negatively affect mental health.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Various international and regional processes have helped to define the public health and social justice imperatives for addressing the social determinants of health. The final report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health was a pioneering piece that brought greater visibility to social determinants. Medicine, in particular its mental health component, is to a large extent a social science and this understanding should be used to guide its practice. To take full account of the evidence around the determinants of mental health, the right to those determinants must expand beyond inequities, discrimination and the physical environment to reflect the documented importance of healthy psychosocial environments (see A/70/213 para. 55 and A/71/304, paras. 16 and 19). That includes developing public policies that promote non-violent and respectful relationships in families, schools, workplaces, communities and health and social services.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- The right to health is an inclusive right to both health care and the underlying and social determinants of health. Public health has individual and collective dimensions, which are essential in securing the right to the enjoyment of the underlying and social determinants of health. Given the deep connections between mental health and the physical, psychosocial, political and economic environment, the right to determinants of health is a precondition for securing the right to mental health. Under international human rights law, States must act on a range of underlying determinants, such as violence, supportive family environments and discrimination, to secure in particular the right to health of children and women and persons with disabilities. In short, respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to mental health requires concerted action to secure certain preconditions that are associated with mental health.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Mental health services must be of good quality. That requires the use of evidence-based practices to support prevention, promotion, treatment and recovery. Effective collaboration between different service providers and people using the services and their families and care partners, also supports enhanced quality of care. The abuse of biomedical interventions, including the inappropriate use or overprescription of psychotropic medications and the use of coercion and forced admissions, compromise the right to quality care. Prioritizing the scaling-up of community-based psychosocial services and mobilizing social resources that can support everyone throughout their life course, will enhance the quality of services.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Special attention should be paid to women, who suffer disproportionately from mental health practices that are based on paternalistic and patriarchal traditions, inappropriate and harmful gender stereotypes, medicalization of women’s feelings and behaviour, and coercion. Women who have suffered from violence and inequalities within their families, communities and societies, and who have mental health conditions very often face situations in mental health settings that amount to violence, coercion, humiliation and disrespect for their dignity. It is unacceptable that after suffering from violations in family and other settings, women suffer from violations again within services that are supposed to promote their mental health. In that regard, it is very important to emphasize that violations of sexual and reproductive health rights have a direct, negative impact on the mental health of women.
- 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
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Convention establishes that all mental health services designed for persons with disabilities are to be effectively monitored by independent authorities (art. 16.3). Human rights must be incorporated into the framework of reference for all monitoring and review procedures in the field of mental health. The Special Rapporteur encourages national human rights institutions to pay attention to the right to mental health in their monitoring and promotion activities. Persons with lived experience, their families and civil society should be engaged in the development and implementation of monitoring and accountability arrangements.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination continue to impede the ability of individuals, including women and persons from racial and ethnic minorities with disabilities, to realize their right to mental health. Discrimination and inequality are both a cause and a consequence of poor mental health, with long-term implications for morbidity, mortality and societal well-being. Discrimination, harmful stereotypes (including gender) and stigma in the community, family, schools and workplace disable healthy relationships, social connections and the supportive and inclusive environments that are required for the good mental health and well-being of everyone. Likewise, discriminatory attitudes influencing policies, laws and practices constitute barriers for those requiring emotional and social support and/or treatment. Consequently, individuals and groups in vulnerable situations who are discriminated against by law and/or in practice are denied their right to mental health.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The effective realization of the right to health requires the participation of everyone, particularly those living in poverty and in vulnerable situations, in decision-making at the legal, policy, community and health service level. At the population level, empowering everyone to participate meaningfully in decisions about their health and well-being requires multisectoral and inclusive engagement with stakeholders, such as users and former users of mental health services, policymakers, service providers, health workers, social workers, the legal profession, the police, carers, family members and the wider community.
- 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
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Exposure to violence increases during adolescence, to the point that it is a primary cause of mortality and morbidity in the second decade. Violence occurs in the family, in the community, at work or at the hands of State 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)
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph