title: Does ratification of human-rights treaties have effects on population health?
abstract: Human-rights treaties indicate a country's commitment to human rights. Here, we assess whether ratification of human-rights treaties is associated with improved health and social indicators. Data for health (including HIV prevalence, and maternal, infant, and child [<5 years] mortalities) and social indicators (child labour, human development index, sex gap, and corruption index), gathered from 170 countries, showed no consistent associations between ratification of human-rights treaties and health or social outcomes. Established market economy states had consistently improved health compared with less wealthy settings, but this was not associated with treaty ratification. The status of treaty ratification alone is not a good indicator of the realisation of the right to health. We suggest the need for stringent requirements for ratification of treaties, improved accountability mechanisms to monitor compliance of states with treaty obligations, and financial assistance to support the realisation of the right to health.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tomkinson
authors.forename: Charlene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Phung
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joffres
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Leilei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Viviane
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Julio S G
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Montaner
authors.forename: Gordon H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Guyatt
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Mills
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality; D002961:Civil Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006806:Human Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D045809:Human Rights Abuses / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007391:International Cooperation; D008017:Life Expectancy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014480:United Nations