February 6, 2015
An editorial in the Lancet analyses the annual Human Rights Watch (HRW) World Report 2015 from a health and human rights perspective. The writer concludes that the report offers an important call to arms to protect health as a fundamental human right, even though HRW did not identify health as a core element in its own analysis.
Excerpt from the introduction:
“Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released World Report 2015, their 25th annual global review documenting human rights practices in more than 90 countries and territories in 2014. The content is based on a comprehensive investigation by HRW staff, together with in-country human rights activists. In his opening essay, HRW’s Executive Director, Kenneth Roth, writes, “The world has not seen this much tumult in a generation…it can seem as if the world is unravelling”. Indeed, this 656-page report is a grim read in a year marked by extensive conflict and extreme violence. But when one delves deeper, there is a hidden story that often does not make the headlines. That story is the health dimension of human rights. Viewed through the lens of health, the report contains several compelling and disturbing themes.”
Full text: Don’t forget health when you talk about human rights, The Lancet , Volume 385 , Issue 9967 , 481