June 20, 2012
In an article in the June 2012 edition of Health and Human Rights, Eric Friedman & Lawrence Gostin propose a four-part approach to accelerating progress towards fulfilling the right to health. They propose a new global health treaty that could help construct these four pillars.
A civil society-led international coalition, the Joint Action and Learning Initiative on National and Global Responsibilities for Health (JALI), is steering a process to develop just such a treaty.
The four pillars are:
1) National legal and policy reform, incorporating right to health obligations and principles including equity, participation, and accountability.
2) Litigation, using creative legal strategies, enhanced training, and promotion of progressive judgments to increase courts’ effectiveness in advancing the right to health.
3) Civil society and community engagement, empowering communities to understand and claim this right and building the capacity of right to health organizations.
4) Innovative global governance for health.
The authors are affiliated to the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law of Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC, USA. Feedback is welcome at eaf74@law.georgetown.edu (Eric Friedman).
Pillars for progress on the right to health: Harnessing the potential of human rights through a Framework Convention on Global Health. Eric A. Friedman, Lawrence O. Gostin, Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, 14(1) (June 2012)
Free access: www.hhrjournal.org/index.php/hhr/article/view/483/751
More information about JALI: www.jalihealth.org