Comments on: Conversation on Health and Human Rights http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640 university students blogging about global health Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:13:24 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: The human right to what? - Dot Org http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640&cpage=1#comment-196 The human right to what? - Dot Org Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:48:19 +0000 http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640#comment-196 [...] see what others like the WHO are doing, what guidance is already out there, engage others in the debate, raise awareness, think about how the right impacts on health programmes or health services and [...] [...] see what others like the WHO are doing, what guidance is already out there, engage others in the debate, raise awareness, think about how the right impacts on health programmes or health services and [...]

]]> By: Brian Beachler http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640&cpage=1#comment-192 Brian Beachler Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:33:22 +0000 http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640#comment-192 Good Point, I think everyone can agree that most Haitians don't have the right to health (<em>blogmaster edit: "I think everyone can agree that most Haitians aren't having their right to health <strong>realized</strong>"</em>). Being able to determine your own health requires a hell of a lot of more support (clean water, health education, etc.) than being able to vote. I think that the wording of the right to health was adopted because it sounds more authoritative. Good Point,

I think everyone can agree that most Haitians don’t have the right to health (blogmaster edit: “I think everyone can agree that most Haitians aren’t having their right to health realized“). Being able to determine your own health requires a hell of a lot of more support (clean water, health education, etc.) than being able to vote.

I think that the wording of the right to health was adopted because it sounds more authoritative.

]]> By: Dev http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640&cpage=1#comment-189 Dev Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:32:46 +0000 http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640#comment-189 I feel this is a good point to bring up, because it really gets at questioning what we're really trying to get at when we connect health (or the act of being healthy) to human rights. But I have a slight disagreement with the link you draw between health as a human right and civic rights. Yes, many people in America (a country with probably the most open access to "rights" on the face of this beautiful planet) have the right to CHOOSE to vote. But what do we do about people in rural Haiti stricken with HIV/AIDS who have to decide between spending all of their money on supporting a family or on antiretroviral medications. In that case, do we say the Haitian has the same ability to choose whether or not to "be healthy"? I know that I wouldn't. And since we are pulling out quotations left and right, I guess I should add one myself. This reminds me a lot of Paul Farmer's answer to the noncompliance question in Pathologies of Power: "Certainly, patients may noncompliant, but how relevant is the notion of compliance in rural Haiti? Doctors may instruct their patients to eat well. But the patients will 'refuse' if they have no food. They may be told to sleep in an open room and away from others, and here again they will be 'noncompliant' if they do not expand and remodel their miserable huts." I feel this is a good point to bring up, because it really gets at questioning what we’re really trying to get at when we connect health (or the act of being healthy) to human rights. But I have a slight disagreement with the link you draw between health as a human right and civic rights. Yes, many people in America (a country with probably the most open access to “rights” on the face of this beautiful planet) have the right to CHOOSE to vote. But what do we do about people in rural Haiti stricken with HIV/AIDS who have to decide between spending all of their money on supporting a family or on antiretroviral medications. In that case, do we say the Haitian has the same ability to choose whether or not to “be healthy”? I know that I wouldn’t.

And since we are pulling out quotations left and right, I guess I should add one myself. This reminds me a lot of Paul Farmer’s answer to the noncompliance question in Pathologies of Power:

“Certainly, patients may noncompliant, but how relevant is the notion of compliance in rural Haiti? Doctors may instruct their patients to eat well. But the patients will ‘refuse’ if they have no food. They may be told to sleep in an open room and away from others, and here again they will be ‘noncompliant’ if they do not expand and remodel their miserable huts.”

]]> By: Brian Beachler http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640&cpage=1#comment-187 Brian Beachler Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:30:08 +0000 http://www.sghequity.org/?p=640#comment-187 What are your thoughts to the following question from the article? "Is it (the right to health) a right to be healthy? No. The state cannot fully ensure good health, as it is influenced by some factors which are in whole or in part outside the state’s control, such as individual susceptibility to ill health." When considering the language used, I often think the right to be healthy is better wording. I envision the right to health to mean the state guarantees a perfect state of well being to all citizens, while the right to be healthy as providing reasonable opportunities to be healthy for all people. Civil and political rights function in the same way. Americans 18 or older are guaranteed the right to vote. Whether they choose to is their own choice. The state should provide the right to be healthy; whether individuals choose to be healthy is their own choice. The right to be healthy is not as strong a statement as the right to be healthy, but I think it's a better description of what the state can provide. What are your thoughts to the following question from the article?

“Is it (the right to health) a right to be healthy?

No. The state cannot fully ensure good health, as it is influenced by some factors which are in whole or in part outside the state’s control, such as individual susceptibility to ill health.”

When considering the language used, I often think the right to be healthy is better wording. I envision the right to health to mean the state guarantees a perfect state of well being to all citizens, while the right to be healthy as providing reasonable opportunities to be healthy for all people.

Civil and political rights function in the same way. Americans 18 or older are guaranteed the right to vote. Whether they choose to is their own choice. The state should provide the right to be healthy; whether individuals choose to be healthy is their own choice.

The right to be healthy is not as strong a statement as the right to be healthy, but I think it’s a better description of what the state can provide.

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