Human Rights: The Role of Health Professionals and The Challenge of HIV/AIDS

Human Rights:Human Rights:The Role of Health The Role of Health

Professionals Professionals and and

The Challenge of The Challenge of HIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS

Dennis LukaayaBA International Relations

MA Candidate Human RightsDepartment of Philosophy

Makerere UniversityCo-Founder of Action Group for Health,

Human Rights and HIV/AIDS (AGHA)

Sarah Kalloch Africa Workshop CoordinatorPhysicians for Human Rights

A Project of

Physicians for Human Rights

www.healthactionaids.org

Health Rights Action Group

(HAG)

Action Group for Health,

Human Rights and HIV/AIDS

(AGHA)

AGHA LOGO?!?!?

A Project of




• A U.S.-based NGO

• Use medical skills to document violations

• Collaborate with health professionals and activists to use their knowledge and strong voices to promote human rights around the world.

• Help amplify the voices of health professionals in advocacy for human rights as part of their commitment to health.

A Project of



Right to health under international human

rights lawThe Right to Health a fundamental human right

indispensable for the exercise of other human rights.

The right to health embraces a wide range of social economic factors that promote conditions

in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to underlying determinants of health such as food and nutrition, access to safe and

potable water and adequate sanitation, safe and healthy working conditions, and a healthy

environment.

A Project of




rights lawUniversal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 25

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 in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

A Project of




rights lawInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights Article 12

1. States recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

2. Steps to be taken to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for:

(a) provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;

(b) improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; (c) prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational

and other diseases; (d) creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and

medical attention in the event of sickness.

A Project of




rights lawConvention on Elimination of all forms of discrimination

Against Women Article 12 1. States take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women

in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning.

3. States shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.

Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 24"States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest

attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health...."

A Project of



Interrelatedness of the Right to Health

The right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human

rights:

The rights to food, housing, work, education, human dignity, life, non-discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to

information, and the freedoms of association, assembly and movement.

These and other rights and freedoms address integral components of the right to health and are needed

for the right to health to be fully realized.

A Project of



What the Right to Health Encompasses

The right to health is not the right to be HEALTHY.

The right to health contains both freedoms and entitlements:

• Freedoms include the right to control one’s health and body, including sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free of torture, non-consensual medical treatment, and experimentation.

• Entitlements include the right to a system of health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the “highest attainable level of health”.

A Project of



Right to Health: Entitlements

Availability:

Functioning public health and health care facilities, good services and programs, including safe drinking water, adequate

sanitation facilities, hospitals, clinics and other health-related buildings, trained medical and

professional personnel receiving domestically competitive salaries, and essential drugs, as

defined by WHO.

A Project of




Accessibility:

Health facilities, good and services must be accessible to everyone, economically, physically and in terms of access to information,

without discrimination.

A Project of




Acceptability:

All health services must be culturally appropriate and respectful of medical ethics such as confidentiality

Quality:

Health services must be scientifically and medically appropriate and of good quality. This means skilled

medical personnel, scientifically approved and unexpired drugs and hospital equipment, safe water and

adequate sanitation.

A Project of



Connections: Human rights and health

practiceYou cannot separate health service

provision and observing human rights.

• Medical ethics, like human rights, based on value of life, and dignity of patients

• Ethical Obligation of beneficence• Ethical requirement of non-discrimination• Promoting right to health consistent with idea of

ethical responsibility to community as a whole – Implies solidarity with patients and activists in

system where human rights violations cause harm

A Project of



What health professionals offer to

human rights• Commitment to health

• Knowledge of what is needed to protect health of individuals

• In public health, what is needed to protect health of community

• Power of your voice

A Project of



Health professionals on the front lines of human

rights

Evaluation of conditions of detention

Care for refugees

A Project of




rights

Seek protection of public health

Promote health of displaced people

A Project of




rights

Ending

discrimination

Assess landmine injuries and advocate for ban

A Project of



Rights and Responsibilities of

Health Professionals and Patients

A Project of



Rights of Health workers

Conducive, safe professional environmentFacilities

SpaceProper Training (Medical & Dental

Practitioners statute -1996, part II pg 8)

A Project of



Responsibilities of Health workers

Reduce morbidity and mortalitySocial rehab./counseling

Appropriate referralComprehensive report writing (Kasolo &

Owor, 2001)Provide information (UNHCO 2003,

HSC Act 2001, Part IV code of conduct-pg13)

A Project of



Rights and Responsibilities of consumers of health services

Rights

• Information• Choice• Participation in

decision making• Respect and

nondiscrimination• Confidentiality

Responsibilities

• Ask about your health• Be considerate to staff

and other patients• Let health workers know

if you are not going to follow treatment

• Keep appointments

A Project of



Dennis: Help! More on this slide?!?!?!

Significance of Human Rights in health service provision

Current adverse health consequences are due to HR neglect in the past decades.

Practice of “apartheid medicine” in SAHIV/AIDS in disadvantaged groups

Communication (Takatsuno. J, Urban refugees)

A Project of



Human Rights and AIDS:

Making the Connection, Meeting

the Challenge

A Project of



AIDS and Human Rights How Violations of Human Rights Fuels the Disease

• Discrimination against people who are HIV+ , combined with lack of access to treatment, impedes people from getting tested

• Discrimination and stigma against people who are HIV+ leads to job discrimination, loss of housing, loss of inheritance rights.

• Lack of information leads people not to take necessary precautions.

• Lack of universal precautions leads to transmission of HIV/AIDS to health workers and patients in medical settings.

• Poverty and economic vulnerability can prevent people from both accessing care and treatment and taking proper prevention steps

A Project of



How Discrimination Against Women Drives Disease

• Domestic violence and forced sex without condoms

• Poverty and deprivation lacks to relationships that leads to HIV/AIDS

• Discrimination in community life – inheritance, marital obligations after husband’s death

• Added Stigma if HIV+ ; fear to reveal• Results in higher prevalence in young women

A Project of



Access to Treatment as a Human Right

A Project of



A Project of



A Project of



If people are treated for AIDS, and they live longer, more productive lives,

the repercussions for other human rights are enormous:

Right to Education (Article 26, UDHR)• Children no longer have to quit school to care

for their orphaned siblings

Right to be protected from Economic Exploitation (Article 32, CRC)

• Young women who go to school and have more skills are les likely to have to resort to prostitution or transactional sex, which contributes to HIV risk

A Project of



If people are treated for AIDS, and they live longer, more productive lives,

the repercussions for other human rights are enormous:

Right to non-discrimination (???)

“I can’t even go to the market with my skin this way!” Given Rx one would not hear such statement(s).

Right to life (Article 3 UDHR)

Effective treatment enables persons with AIDS to manage their illness as a chronic condition and renders the symptoms invisible.

A Project of



What a Human Rights Approach to HIV/AIDS

Requires – Obligations of government

• Protection against discrimination• Protection against gender-based violence.• Access to information about the disease and its

prevention• Access to treatment , including ARV

medications and well supplied clinics, if infected.

• Assurance of a well trained health work force.• Protection against spread of the disease in

clinics

A Project of



Health professionals on the front lines of human rights

and HIV/AIDS

1. Health Professionals are themselves subject to human rights violations

• Subjected to discrimination if HIV+

• Often lack access to treatment themselves

• Placed at risk of infection in clinics from lack of supplies and equipment.

A Project of



Health professionals on the front lines of human rights

and HIV/AIDS

2. Health Professionals required to practice in an environment that violates the right to health of their patients

• Cannot provide the voluntary testing needed to identify HIV for lack of kits.

• Are not provided measures to prevent transmission in medical setting.

• Lack resources for ARVs and drugs for opportunistic infections that are needed.

• Do not receive compensation adequate to the work they perform

• In many places do not have access to sufficient other staff to do needed jobs

A Project of



A Human Rights Response

• Recognize that a human rights framework helps understanding the implications of health policies and understand where inequity in health systems violates human rights

• Points to reforms needed to resolve human rights violations

• Empowering to all in stimulating action by health professionals to end violations

• Helps ends feeling of demoralization and powerlessness.

A Project of



Health Professionals as Advocates

Nurses, Physicians, Students Advocating for Resources for HIV/AIDS

A Project of



Challenges to Engagement

• Day to day responsibilities can be overwhelming. • Differences and conflicts among professions that need to be

bridged • Traditional healers and Western-trained doctors and nurses• Roles of nurse/midwives, lab technicians, pharmacists needed to

be recognized, and strong alliances formed.

• Need to become informed on health and public policy issues and the decision-makers, with organization focused on this

• Traditions do not emphasize solidarity with patients or people living with HIV on patients’ rights

• Focus outwardly on patients and community not just inwardly on profession

A Project of



Meeting the Challenges --responses of health

professionals acting to protect human rights --

HIV/AIDS• Acknowledging HIV+ status and speaking out.

• Taking collective action to analyze the problem of HIV/AIDS in human rights terms and speaking out on needs.

• Speaking out to protect women.

• Developing alliances with people with HIV/AIDS on discrimination, treatment, confidentiality.

• Advocacy for treatment, care and prevention resources

A Project of



Way forward

Constantly remind yourself, your clients and your colleagues about their rights and

responsibilities so that they can deliver health services within a strong human

rights framework.

If any of us knew what our position in life would be (rich or poor, male or female, sick or well)

any rational person would insist on society that respects universal norms such as human rights.

( John Rawls - Harvard Philosopher)

Human Rights: The Role of Health Professionals and The Challenge of HIV/AIDS

Documents

mental health

determinants of health

cultural rights article

voices of health professionals

health care services

role of health professionals

field of health care

medical care