Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health

Named a 2013 Doody's Core Title!

With great timing, the editors of Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health offer a targeted and innovative strategy to combat global health problems. Balanced, comprehensive, and steeped in the historical traditions of human rights, the book persuasively moves the reader from abstract conceptions of inalienable human rights to evidence-based, pragmatic solutions that highlight the systematic integration of human rights principles in human development work."--PsycCRITIQUES

The human rights framework as eloquently described in this book offers a new way for us to think about how we approach our work: from deciding when and how to intervene, to how we plan, the goals we establish, and the metrics we use to gauge the success of our efforts. Public health instructors will find many of the chapters useful for illustrating, in very concrete ways, the link between human rights and public health, providing students (and practitioners) with a new framework for analyzing public health topics and for designing and evaluating interventions. Ultimately, civil rights and civil liberties are only of value when exercised. This book will contribute to the advance of human rights by leading increasing numbers of public health practitioners to advocate for, and promote, their realization.Score: 95, 4 stars --Doody's Medical Reviews

Rights Based Approaches to Public Health provides a new perspective on addressing public health problems. It is an evidence based and cutting edge approach that provides important insights into solving ethical dilemmas. It is essential reading for anyone interested in ensuring health equity and justice.

At root, those working in health and human rights are both animated by a similar concern: the well-being of individuals and populations. The book will be an invaluable asset to both communities as they work to achieve their common goal.

From the foreword by Paul Hunt

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health
(2002-2008)

Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health presents a variety of public health professionals who utilize rights-based approaches in their work, the challenges they face, and the lessons they have learned.

This expansive volume includes rights-based approaches with a variety of populations and across international settings. It explores environmental issues such as the right to clean air, water, and food. It examines the rights of the vulnerable, including women and children. It also includes work in difficult locations, such as prisons, high-conflict areas, and New Orleans post-Katrina. The useful tools and diverse case studies in this text provide the best models available for those interested in implementing or furthering a rights-based agenda.

Key Features:

• Contains an overview of the key international documents regarding the right to health
• Provides an exploration of the efficacy of rights-based approaches to health
• Covers professional and ethical issues in rights-based approaches
• Presents systemic and policy implications, including a rights-based approach to health care reform
• Includes global case studies from a wide variety of noted organizations and practitioners

Want to learn more about co-editor Dabney Evans and rights-based approaches to public health? Watch this video about the Atlanta Asylum Network featuring Dabney Evans:

• Atlanta Asylum Network

PART I. Introduction

1. Introduction: Why Do Rights-Based Approaches to Health Matter?
Elvira Beracochea, Dabney P. Evans, and Corey Weinstein

2. Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health Systems
Benjamin Mason Meier, Lance Gable, Jocelyn E. Getgen, and Leslie London

3. Rights-Based Approaches and Health Disparities in the United States
Roshni D. Persaud

4. A Rights-Based Approach to Health Care Reform
Anja Rudiger and Benjamin Mason Meier

5. Rights-Based Approaches and Millennium Development Goals
Elvira Beracochea, Monika Sawhney, and Ujwal Chhetry

6. Global Plans of Action for Health
George Kent

PART II. Rights-Based Approaches and Professional Development

7. Ethical Issues and Rights-Based Approaches: Balancing Dual Loyalties
Leslie London, Leonard Rubenstein, and Laurel Baldwin-Ragaven

8. A Rights-Based Approach to Research: Assessing the Right to Water in Haiti
Margaret L. Satterthwaite and Amanda M. Klasing

9. Using the Right to Food to Teach Human Rights
George Kent

PART III. Rights-Based Approaches With Special Populations and Settings

10. Human Rights and Women's Health
Padmini Murthy and Dhrubajyoti (Dru) Bhattacharya

11. A Rights-Based Approach to Children's Health
Nichola Cadge

12. Human Rights and HIV Prevention Among Drug Users
Salaam Semaan, Don C. Des Jarlais, Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, Alexandra Kirby, and Tanya Telfair Sharpe

13. Rights-Based Approaches in Conflict-Affected Settings
Emily Waller, Andrew D. Pinto, Neil Arya, and Anthony B. Zwi

PART IV. Case Studies

14. Promoting Human Rights in Public Health Programs: Lessons Learned from HealthRight International
Vandana Tripathi, Mehlika Ozden Hoodbhoy, and Mila Rosenthal

15. Operationalizing Rights-Based Approaches to Health: The Case of CARE in Peru
Ariel Frisancho, Jay Goulden, and Helene D. Gayle

16. Liberation Medicine and Accompaniment in El Salvador: The Experience of Doctors for Global Health
Jennifer Kasper and Clyde Lanford (Lanny) Smith

17. The Right to Clean Air: The U.S. Clean Air Act?s Approach
David P. Novello

18. Peer Education in Prison: A Rights-Based Approach
Kathy Boudin and Corey Weinstein

19. Rights-Based Approaches to Community Development: A Case Study of the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans
Ann Yoachim and Charles Allen III

20. Rights-Based Approaches in Conflict Settings: Examples from Nepal and Israel/Palestine
Neil Arya, Judy Kitts, and Khagendra Dahal

21. Rights-Based Approaches to Essential Medicines
Elvira Beracochea and David Lee

Conclusion: Rights-Based Approaches in Public Health
Elvira Beracochea, Dabney P. Evans, and Corey Weinstein

Appendix: List of Acronyms

Index