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Comment
. 2018 May 1;7(5):467-469.
doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.109.

Human Rights Treaties Are an Important Part of the "International Health Instrumentariam" Comment on "The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?"

Lisa Forman  1
Affiliations
Comment

Human Rights Treaties Are an Important Part of the "International Health Instrumentariam" Comment on "The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?"

Lisa Forman. Int J Health Policy Manag. .

Abstract

In their commentary, Haik Nikogosian and Ilona Kickbusch argue for the necessity of new binding international legal instruments for health to address complex health determinants and offer a cogent analysis of the implications of such treaties for future global health governance. Yet in doing so they pay no attention to the existing instrumentarium of international legally binding treaties relevant to health, in the form of human rights treaties. International human rights law has entrenched individual entitlements and state obligations in relation to individual and public health through iterative human rights treaties since 1946. These treaties offer normative specificity, institutional monitoring and the possibility of enforcement and accountability. If we are to build a new 'international health instrumentariam' we should not ignore existing and important tools that can assist in this endeavor.

Keywords: Global Health; Human Rights; International Law; Right to Health.

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References

    1. Nikogosian H, Kickbusch I. The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance? Int J Health Policy Manag. 2016;5(12):683–685. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2016.122. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Constitution of the World Health Organization. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1946;36(11):1315-1323. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://undocs.org/A/810. Published 1948.
    1. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx. Published 1966.
    1. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspx. Published 1966.

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