Basic Concept of

Human Right
Tridjoko Hadianto

History
NAZI Human Experimentation
Germany in World War II Jews prisoner Medical experiments research

Tuskegee Untreated Syphilis Study

in Tuskegee, Alabama 1932 - 1972 African-American (Negro) Male Clinical study in human research

Health and Human Right

The link between Health and Human Rights is a relatively recent phenomenon. In 1945, the United Nations stated that all people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The UN General Assembly in 1948 passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it is in this document that Health is first mentioned as a human right. Importantly, Indonesia has signed this declaration.

Health
Health here means more than just physical health, but includes the mental and social aspects of Health. It is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services and the right to security

Promoting Health and Promoting Human Rights are distinct and powerful approaches to advancing human well-being. Health promotion involves the physical, mental and social aspects of health for the individual and for populations. Human rights involve protecting individuals and groups against actions that interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity. The goal of the health and human rights linkage is to advance the human well-being beyond that which could be reached by either the Health or the Human Rights approach, independently.

The relationship between Health and Human Rights

These complex linkages can be seen in the conceptual image created by the WHO. There are three concentric circles that overlap in the center. The three circles are called: Human Rights Violations Resulting in Ill-Health.
In other words, violations or lack of attention to human rights can have serious health consequences;

Promotion or Violation of Human Rights through Health Development.

In other words, health policies and programs can promote or violate human rights in the ways they are designed or implemented;

Reducing Vulnerability of Ill-Health through Human Rights.

In other words, vulnerability and the impact of ill health can be reduced by taking steps to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.

In the WHO diagram, the outer circle is a set of examples of the three categories involved in the health and human rights relationship.

Note
First, when violations of human rights occur, adverse health consequences can result.
If a child is physically or mentally abused, this child might need medical attention for fractures of the bones or psychological impairment due to this abuse. His rights are violated and he suffers ill health as a result.

Second, health policies or programs can violate human rights in their design and implementation.
A program designed to educate the general population about HIV/AIDS prevention that does not take into account different languages spoken by different sub-populations is discriminatory and violates the human rights of those who cannot access the information. By violating the human rights of certain populations, their health will be adversely impacted.

Third, respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights, reduces the vulnerability of illness for the individual and for populations.
The physically disabled require specially designed access to health facilities in order to use them. If access is not possible, or more difficult, the handicapped person will not be able to access the health system and will, therefore, be more vulnerable to ill health.

Implementation
Physicians and health care providers play a pivotal role in moving the human rights agenda forward through the standards of medical care they embrace. Standards such as patient/client respect, nondiscriminatory access and care, confidentiality and informed consent are important in enhancing the quality of care. These standards are also integral to bio(medical)ethics, and offer an opportunity for a bridge from medical practice to improved human rights for populations.

Bioethics can serve as a vehicle for increased awareness of human rights in the medical community. In time, promotion of these standards of medical care can provide a substrata upon which legal advocates can argue for other economic and social rights that will promote individual wellbeing and population health. Both the medical and the legal communities have a part to play in improving health and human rights-and each will be more effective by working together in this quest.

The medical and legal communities must work together in other ways. For instance, doctors and other health workers are on the frontline to diagnose the health impacts of human rights abuses. In addition to diagnosing, health professionals can treat document and report human rights abuses. In collaboration with their legal counterparts, protections must be created for these vulnerable populations in order to prevent further human rights abuses. In addition, the legal community in collaboration with the medical community can draft law that provides legal redress in circumstances of human rights violations.

What human rights are?

Human rights are primarily about the relationship between the individual and the state. International human rights law consists of the obligations that governments have agreed they have in order to be effective in promoting and protecting our rights. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition (Preamble to the WHO Constitution 1946)

Human rights, such as the right to the highest attainable standard of health, are understood to be progressively implemented by the state to the maximum of its available resources.

States must take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the [Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights] covenant by all appropriate means, including the adoption of legislative measures.

A rights-based approach to health refers to the processes of:

Using human rights as a framework for health development.

Assessing and addressing the human rights implications of any health policy, programme or legislation. Making human rights an integral dimension of design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health-related policies and programs in all spheres, including political, economic and social.