Human Right to Health CARE INITIATIVES

Rising inequity in U.S. society and the failure to recognize economic and social rights play a significant role in the domestic health care crisis.  Our fragmented health care financing system is rife with problems that lead to a wide range of human right to health abuses.  The most visible is the 47 million people with no form of health insurance, the most distressing is the number of preventable deaths, estimated by some to reach 101,000 people a year, simply due to shortcomings in the way health care is organized in the United States. 

This crisis persists despite available resources to protect the right to health, and despite record levels of health care spending in the United States. Because social determinants, such as race, class and environment, strongly influence who becomes ill and who receives access to quality care, our health care crisis disproportionately affects under-resourced communities, such as immigrants, the working class and people of color.  However, lack of access to health care, health related debt and poor preventative care are prevalent across races and ethnic groups, and increasingly impact the middle class. Overall, the health care crisis reflects unethical and unchecked profit interests that devalue public health, human dignity and equality. This presents a compelling opportunity for bringing a human rights perspective to domestic health policy.

Collaborations

The Human Right to Health Care Coalition:
In our newest collaboration, NESRI is working with Amnesty International, the Opportunity Agenda, and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) to shift the debate from health care as a commodity to health care as a human right. Amnesty International USA has launched a new “Dignity” campaign with health care as a key component. The coalition has developed a petition, launched under Amnesty International’s name, which demands that health care reform fulfills three core human right to health principles: universality, equity, and accountability. Sign the short version of the petition >>> Download the full version of the petition >>> Download the principles >>>

The Human Right to Health Capacity Building Collaborative:
NESRI is working in partnership with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and other health advocates to develop human rights analysis, support groups at local, state, and national levels , and cultivate opportunities for strategic collaboration to promote a health care system that protects human rights. Other members of the Collaborative include the FXB Center on Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health, Ipas, the Opportunity Agenda, and the Human Rights Implementation Project. Members are coordinating to develop policy analysis and training tools to support activist organizations in their efforts to reform health care at the local, state, and national level.  The Program is also working with Harvard's Health and Human Rights Journal by  contributing in their Open Forum blog. See our blogs at >>>

Partnerships

Montana
The Program’s first state-based partnership is in Montana: we were invited by the Montana Human Rights Network to support their campaign for health care reform from a human rights perspective. The strategy includes a legislative agenda and local initiatives for universal health care. For more information on our work in Montana >>>

Vermont
The Program is also supporting a “Healthcare is a Human Right” campaign in Vermont, led by the Vermont Workers’ Center. For more information on the work in Vermont >>>

For other state-based advocates and organizations interested in collaborating on human rights based health reform efforts , please contact Anja Rudiger, the Program Director.

Working with Allies

Women’s Human Right to Reproductive Health
NESRI and NHeLP have collaborated with Ipas, as the lead organization, as well as the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, on a fact sheet titled “The Human Right to Health and Women’s Reproductive Health Policy.” To download the factsheet >>>

A Human Rights Assessment of Health Reform Proposals in Washington State
In January 2009 Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA) released a report, "Washington State's Health Reform Proposals: A Human Rights Assessment."  The report uses a human rights framework to evaluate the five proposals that the Washington Legislature is considering as models for state-based health reform. Read the report and download the toolkit here >>>

Human Right to Health Care Videos
We work with Creative Counsel, through their 1000 Voices Archive project (www.1000VoicesArchive.org), to create multi-media tools for human rights advocacy. So far our collaboration has produced four short videos of Montanans talking about health care as a human right. >>>

Human Right to Health Caucus
The Human Right to Health Caucus, affiliated with the US Human Rights Network, supports the use of a human rights approach by health advocates, activists, and policymakers in the United States. The Caucus provides a forum for developing and coordinating strategies to secure the health rights of all people in United States. It acts as a vehicle for the exchange and debate of information and analysis on the human right to health.  The Caucus actively encourages individuals and organizations to apply a human rights approach in their work on health issues, and to share examples of successful practices using the right to health and health care.

The Caucus has a listserv, moderated by Anja Rudiger: to subscribe, email Human_right_to_health[at]lists.mayfirst.org