Health and human rights: challenges of implementation and cultural change.
The author identifies the evolution of discourse about human rights to health in medical law, health law and public health law, as well as in major international instruments. He emphasises the importance of General Comment No 14 on Art 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He argues that its breadth but also its specificity in terms of accountable benchmarks and measures of health service provision are likely to frame discourse on "rights to health" in the succeeding years. He identifies the need for translation of the rhetoric in such instruments into meaningful and patient-informed data so that it becomes possible to compare and contrast advances (or otherwise) in rights to health within and among different countries.
Crockett Chambers, Melbourne, Australia. I.Freckelton@vicbar.com.au
Ian
I
Freckelton
D001315:Australia; D003469:Culture; D006806:Human Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health