title: Human rights in health systems frameworks: what is there, what is missing and why does it matter?
abstract: Global initiatives and recent G8 commitments to health systems strengthening have brought increased attention to factors affecting health system performance. While equity concerns and human rights language appear often in the global health discourse, their inclusion in health systems efforts beyond rhetorical pronouncements is limited. Building on recent work assessing the extent to which features compatible with the right to health are incorporated into national health systems, we examine how health systems frameworks have thus far integrated human rights concepts and human rights-based approaches to health in their conceptualisation. Findings point to the potential value of the inclusion of human rights in these articulations to increase the participation or involvement of clients in health systems, to broaden the concept of equity, to bring attention to laws and policies beyond regulation and to strengthen accountability mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. gruskin@usc.edu
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gruskin
authors.forename: Shahira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bogecho
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hanefeld
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maccarthy
authors.forename: Zyde
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Raad
authors.forename: Riley
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Steiner
mesh_terms: D014943:Global Health; D006291:Health Policy; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D012941:Social Responsibility