The evolution of human rights in World Health Organization policy and the future of human rights through global health governance

Meier, Benjamin Mason; Onzivu, William

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2013.08.012

Cited by 64 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This use of the term is more normative, not only responding to the impacts on health of a globalising world, but seeking to achieve particular goals such as access to medicines, health equity or primary health care [127], or principles such as human rights [68,128,129] and social justice [130]. As discussed above, different definitions of global health abound.…”

Section: Ontological Variations In Ghg Scholarshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multiple meanings of global health governance: a call for conceptual clarity

2014

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BackgroundThe term global health governance (GHG) is now widely used, with over one thousand works published in the scholarly literature, almost all since 2002. Amid this rapid growth there is considerable variation in how the term is defined and applied, generating confusion as to the boundaries of the subject, the perceived problems in practice, and the goals to be achieved through institutional reform.MethodologyThis paper is based on the results of a separate scoping study of peer reviewed GHG research from 1990 onwards which undertook keyword searches of public health and social science databases. Additional works, notably books, book chapters and scholarly articles, not currently indexed, were identified through Web of Science citation searches. After removing duplicates, book reviews, commentaries and editorials, we reviewed the remaining 250 scholarly works in terms of how the concept of GHG is applied. More specifically, we identify what is claimed as constituting GHG, how it is problematised, the institutional features of GHG, and what forms and functions are deemed ideal.ResultsAfter examining the broader notion of global governance and increasingly ubiquitous term “global health”, the paper identifies three ontological variations in GHG scholarship - the scope of institutional arrangements, strengths and weaknesses of existing institutions, and the ideal form and function of GHG. This has produced three common, yet distinct, meanings of GHG that have emerged – globalisation and health governance, global governance and health, and governance for global health.ConclusionsThere is a need to clarify ontological and definitional distinctions in GHG scholarship and practice, and be critically reflexive of their normative underpinnings. This will enable greater precision in describing existing institutional arrangements, as well as serve as a prerequisite for a fuller debate about the desired nature of GHG.

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Section: Ontological Variations In Ghg Scholarshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multiple meanings of global health governance: a call for conceptual clarity

2014

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“…Human rights- based approaches for health acknowledge poverty and related ill-health as consequences of structural disempowerment and exclusion, and call for action to address the structural dimensions of human rights violations [ 64 ]. Human rights also provide the legal standards for universal health coverage, framing government responsibilities and respective health policies in order to providing equitable healthcare also to vulnerable populations [ 65 ], Free healthcare or social cash transfers are examples to address inequities in access to healthcare. In Zambia, user fees were only introduced in the early 1990s to be abolished again in 2006–7 for all primary healthcare services [ 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If a caregiver–male or female–precludes a child from using health services we may want to look at it from a rights-based approach as well [ 65 , 71 ]. If we acknowledge women’s and children’s right to health as a human right, we must consider it as indisposable; it exists in its own right [ 64 ] and as such is independent from the consent of a family head.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Uptake of HIV Testing in Children at Risk in Two Urban and Rural Settings in Zambia: A Mixed-Methods Study

Merten

Ntalasha

2016

PLoS ONE

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This article investigates reasons why children who were considered at risk of HIV were not taken for HIV testing by their caregivers. Qualitative and quantitative data collected in Zambia from 2010–11 revealed that twelve percent of caregivers who stated that they had been suspecting an HIV infection in a child in their custody had not had the child tested. Fears of negative reactions from the family were the most often stated reason for not testing a child. Experience of pre-existing conflicts between the couple or within the family (aOR 1.35, 95% CI 1.00–1.82) and observed stigmatisation of seropositive children in one’s own neighbourhood (aOR 1.69, 95% CI1.20–2.39) showed significant associations for not testing a child perceived at risk of HIV. Although services for HIV testing and treatment of children have been made available through national policies and programmes, some women and children were denied access leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment–not on the side of the health system, but on the household level. Social norms, such as assigning the male household head the power to decide over the use of healthcare services by his wife and children, jeopardize women’s bargaining power to claim their rights to healthcare, especially in a conflict-affected relationship. Social norms and customary and statutory regulations that disadvantage women and their children must be addressed at every level–including the community and household–in order to effectively decrease barriers to HIV related care.

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“…In particular, this scholarship illuminates how global health is more than just a technical pursuit; rather, “health policies, practices, and outcomes occupy politically contested spaces,” and global health governance is influenced by political considerations (Davies et al, , p. 829). IR scholars who work on global health topics have thus studied the influences of international economic and business developments (Roemer‐Mahler, ), the political nature of modern medicine and medical practices (Howell, ), and the implementation of global policy agendas by national governments (Brown, ), as well as the framing of global health issues (McInnes & Lee, ) and the evolution of human rights conceptualizations in global health governance (Meier & Onzivu, ). IR perspectives have also been applied to different geographic regions and an array of global health issues, that is, HIV/AIDS, pandemic influenza, tuberculosis, malaria, etc.…”

Section: How Political Scientists Can Contributementioning

confidence: 99%

Cross‐Border Reproductive Care: Two Lenses in Political Science

Stapleton¹,

Skinner²

2018

World Med & Health Policy

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Cross‐border reproductive care (CBRC)—when patients travel outside their country to seek assisted reproductive services—is a booming industry. Globalization facilitates the increase in CBRC by reducing transportation costs, removing language barriers, and liberalizing the reproductive services market. Yet global and domestic regulatory responses are failing to keep pace, raising ethical, economic, political, and social issues. Political science has been slow to contribute to our understanding of CBRC politics and policies. This article first establishes the gap in existing CBRC research, before presenting how political scientists can respond in two specific areas: 1) the role of globalization health governance in relation to CBRC and 2) the political implications and potentials of “medical necessity” in shaping patient motivations for seeking—as well as their ultimate access to—CBRC. New research in these areas will aid policymakers in recognizing the context in which they must develop CBRC regulations.

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The evolution of human rights in World Health Organization policy and the future of human rights through global health governance

Cited by 64 publications

References 20 publications

The multiple meanings of global health governance: a call for conceptual clarity

The multiple meanings of global health governance: a call for conceptual clarity

Non-Uptake of HIV Testing in Children at Risk in Two Urban and Rural Settings in Zambia: A Mixed-Methods Study

Cross‐Border Reproductive Care: Two Lenses in Political Science

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