State obligations

What does the right to health mean for governments?

Health professionals working with the right to health also need to be familiar with the obligations that it imposes on Governments. The right to health, like all human rights, imposes three levels of obligations on governments. These are the obligations to respect, to protect, and to fulfil.

The obligation to respect implies a duty of the state not to violate the right to health by its actions.[1]

  • The state must refrain from denying or limiting equal access for all persons, including prisoners, detainees, minorities, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants;
  • The state must refrain from censoring, withholding or intentionally misrepresenting accurate health-related information, including sexual health education and information.

The obligation to protect implies a duty of the state to prevent violations of the right to health by others. It must take measures which prevent third parties from interfering with or violating the right to health.

  • The government must introduce and enforce appropriate controls for the marketing of medical equipment and medicines by third parties;
  • The government must ensure that medical practitioners and other health professionals meet appropriate recognised standards of education, skills and ethical codes of conduct.

The obligation to fulfil  means that governments must act in order to ensure that rights can be enjoyed.

  • The government must focus on rectifying existing imbalances in the provision of health facilities, goods and services. For example, it should allocate sufficient public resources to the most deprived regions in the country, in particular to the poor and otherwise vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
  • The government must promote activities that benefit good health and ensure the dissemination of appropriate information.

What are the immediate and progressive obligations of States?

Given the differences between countries fully realising the right to health will need variable amounts of time and resources. The most appropriate measures to implement the right to health will also vary from one country to another. While international law sets out the various state obligations, each government must determine for itself which measures are the most suitable for complying with these obligations. However, beyond a certain point the same basic minimum standards must apply everywhere.  These are the immediate obligations. Government’s are also under an obligation to put in place policies to progressively realise the right to health. As more resources are made available, so governments have to fulfil more of their responsibilities.

What are core obligations?

Core obligations are intended to ensure that people everywhere are provided with, at the very least, the minimum conditions under which they can live in dignity; enjoy the basic living conditions needed to support their health; and be free from avoidable mortality. Core obligations require immediate and effective measures and are not subject to progressive implementation.

In the case of healthcare, governments must provide:

  • immunisation against major infectious diseases;
  • measures to prevent, treat and control epidemic and endemic diseases;
  • essential medicines, as defined by WHO’s Action Programme on Essential Medicines;
  • reproductive, maternal (pre-natal and post-natal) and child health care;
  • essential primary health care as described in the Alma-Ata Declaration;
  • access to health facilities without discrimination;
  • equitable distribution of all health facilities, goods and services.

In the case of underlying determinants of health, governments must provide:

  • access to the minimum amount of food that is sufficient, nutritionally adequate and safe, to ensure their freedom from starvation and malnutrition; and
  • access to basic shelter, housing and sanitation, together with an adequate supply of safe and potable water.

In the case of health education and information, governments must provide:

  • education and access to information about the main health problems in the community, including methods of prevention and control; and
  • appropriate training for medical and other health professionals, including education in health and human rights.

Governments must also adopt and implement a national public health strategy and action plan, based on epidemiological evidence, which takes into account the health concerns of the whole population.

What are the international obligations arising from the right to health?

International human rights law makes it clear that the responsibility of states includes international assistance and co-operation.[2] This is required where the fulfilment of government obligations is beyond the scope of available resources, and the international community must assume some responsibility, for example by contributing to development aid.

Depending on the availability of resources, developed countries should promote access to essential health facilities, goods and services in resource-poor countries and provide the necessary aid when required. In all cases of international assistance and co-operation, priority must be given to the fulfilment of core obligations arising from the right to health.


Notes

[1] In exceptional circumstances of urgent public health concerns such as the need to contain outbreaks or epidemics of serious infectious diseases, the state’s obligation to respect can be superseded. An example would be the necessity to quarantine an individual with open pulmonary tuberculosis who refuses treatment, so as to prevent the spread of infection and secure public health. However such measures by government must be temporary and fully justifiable. All such exceptions must conform to the Siracusa principles. See: United Nations, Economic and Social Council, U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation of Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. E/CN.4/1985/4. 1985.

[2] International assistance and co-operation can be seen as reflecting and affirming principles of global equity and shared responsibility which underpin contemporary models of development assistance, the Millennium Declaration being a case in point.

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Type of resource: Books and reports

Transforming Health: International Rights-Based Advocacy for Trans Health (2013)
Open Society Foundations

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Tuberculosis and Human Rights – Health and Human Rights Resource Guide, Chapter 3 (2013)
FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and Open Society Foundations

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Advancing Human Rights in Patient Care: The Law in Seven Transitional Countries (2013) - Leo Beletsky et al.
Open Society Foundations

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Sexual violence as a weapon of war?: perceptions, prescriptions , problems in the Congo and beyond (2013) - Maria Eriksson Baaz & Maria Stern
Zed Books

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Access to Medicines as a Human Right: Implications for Pharmaceutical Industry Responsibility (2012) - Lisa Forman & Jillian Clare Kohler
University of Toronto Press

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Mental Health and Human Rights. Vision, praxis, and courage (2012) - Michael Dudley, Derrick Silove & Fran Gale
Oxford University Press

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Poor Access to Pain Treatment: Advancing a Human Right to Pain Relief (2012) - Marie Elske Gispen
IFHHRO

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

The Human Right to Health (2012) - Jonathan Wolff
Amnesty International

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Legal Aspects of Palliative Care (2012)
Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

The Human Right to Equal Access to Health Care (thesis) (2012) - Maite San Giorgi
intersentia

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights & Health (2012)
Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Health and Human Rights in Europe (2012) - Brigit Toebes, Mette Hartlev, Aart Hendriks & Janne Rothmar Herrmann (Eds)
intersentia

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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Steps for Change – A Human Rights Action Guide for Health Workers (2012) - Alicia Dibbets & Rosalinda Terhorst
IFHHRO

Open resource
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Global Health and Foreign Policy (2012) - Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 12 December 2012 (A/67/L.36 and Add.1)
UN

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Steps for Change – A Human Rights Action Guide for Health Workers – Templates (2012) - Rosalinda Terhorst & Alicia Dibbets
IFHHRO

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Corruption in Global Health: Governance Approaches in Dealing with Forms of Health Related Corruption (2012) - Timothy Ken Mackey
Institute of Health Law Studies

Open resource
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Force-feeding of prisoners and detainees on hunger strike: Right to self-determination versus right to intervention (2012) - P. Jacobs
Intersentia

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Health financing (2012) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/67/302
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights, and Health (2012) - Judith Levine
Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Open resource
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Occupational health, especially of vulnerable population groups (2012) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/20/15
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

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Partners in Crime: International Funding for Drug Control and Gross Violations of Human Rights (2012) - Patrick Gallahue, Roxanne Saucier & Damon Barrett
International Harm Reduction Association

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Type of resource: Books and reports

The Right to Health in International Law (2012) - John Tobin
Oxford University Press

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Torture in the Name of Treatment. Human Rights Abuses in Vietnam, China, Cambodia, and Lao PDR (2012)
Human Rights Watch

Open resource
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Type of resource: E-learning

E-learning Steps for Change: How to use human rights to address problems in your health facility (2012)
IFHHRO

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Litigating Health Rights. Can Courts Bring More Justice to Health? (2011) - Alicia Ely Yamin & Siri Gloppen (Eds)
Harvard University Press

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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Preventing Torture: the role of physicians and their professional organisations: principles and practice (2011)
Medact

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Practices in adopting a human rights-based approach to eliminate preventable maternal mortality and human rights (2011)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

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Toolkit on the Right to Health (2011) - Nicole Fick, Leslie London & Fons Coomans
Learning Network for Health and Human Rights, South Africa

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Addressing Corruption in the Health Sector: Securing equitable access to health care for everyone (2011) - Karen Hussmann
CHR Michelsen Institute

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Confronting Corruption in the Health Sector in Vietnam: Patterns and Prospects (2011) - Taryn Vian, Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Frank G. Feeley, Matthieu Salomon & Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien
Boston University – Center for Global Health and Development

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Development and the right to health (2011) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/17/25
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Fighting Corruption in the Health Sector: Methods, Tools and Good Practises (2011)
UNDP

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Type of resource: Books and reports

Global Health Watch 3 – An Alternative World Health Report (2011)
People's Health Movement

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Human rights and gender equality in health sector strategies: how to assess policy coherence (2011)
WHO

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Human Rights and Intellectual Property: Mapping the Global Interface (2011) - L. Helfer
Cambridge University Press

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Intellectual Property, Human Rights, and Development (2011) - D. Matthews
Edward Elgar Publishing

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

The Rehab Archipelago – Forced Labor and Other Abuses in Drug Detention Centers in Southern Vietnam (2011)
Human Rights Watch

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Type of resource: Books and reports

Treated with Cruelty: Abuses in the Name of Rehabilitation (2011)
Open Society Foundations

Open resource
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Treatment or Torture? Applying International Human Rights Standards to Drug Detention Centers (2011) - Richard Elliott, Alison Symington, Rick Lines & Rebecca Schleifer
Open Society Foundations

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Fact sheet Against Her Will: Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Women Worldwide (2011)
Open Society Foundations

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Sexual orientation and gender identity – Annual report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/19/41) (2011)
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

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Addressing Corruption in the Health Sector. How to Note, a DIFID Practive Paper. (2010) - Karen Hussmann
DFID (UK)

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Criminalisation of same-sex relationships, sex work and HIV transmission (2010) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/14/20
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

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Type of resource: Books and reports

Drug use (2010) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/65/255
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Global strategy to stop health-care providers from performing female genital mutilation (2010)
UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO, FIGO, ICN, IOM, MWIA, WCPT, WMA

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Human Rights Guidelines to Pharmaceutical Companies in Relation to Access to Medicines (2010)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

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WHO Good Governance For Medicines Programme: an innovative approach to prevent corruption in the pharmaceutical sector (2010) - Guitelle Baghdadi-Sabeti & Fatima Serhan
WHO

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health: A Guide for Civil Society (2009)
IFHHRO

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Reproductive Health and Human Rights. The Way Forward (2009) - Laura Reichenbach & Mindy Jane Roseman (Eds),
University of Pennsylvania Press

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Human Rights Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in relation to Access to Medicines: The Sexual and Reproductive Health Context (2009) - Rajat Khosla & Paul Hunt
University of Essex, Right to Health Unit

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“Please, do not make us suffer any more…” Access to Pain Treatment as a Human Right (2009)
Human Rights Watch

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Ethical Codes and Declarations Relevant to the Health Professions. An Amnesty International compilation of selected ethical and human rights texts (2009)
Amnesty International

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Access to medicines, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS and free trade agreements) (2009) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/11/12
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

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Domestic Violence Legislation and its Implementation. An analysis for ASEAN countries based on international standards and good practices (2009) - Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative (Indira Jaising, Asmita Basu, Brototi Dutta)
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Open resource
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From coercion to cohesion: Treating drug dependence through health care, not punishment (2009)
UNODC

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Interrogations, Forced Feedings, and the Role of Health Professionals New Perspectives on International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and Ethics (2009) - R. Goodman & M. Roseman (eds)
Harvard University Press

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Migration and the Right to Health: A Review of International Law (2009) - Paola Pace, IOM/International Migration Law N°19
IOM

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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Providers as Advocates for Safe Abortion Care: A Training Manual (2009)
Ipas

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Accountability and human rights guidelines for pharmaceutical companies in relation to access to medicines (2008) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/63/263
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Health systems and the right to the highest attainable standard of health (2008) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/7/11
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Promoting Health: Advocacy Guide for Health Professionals (2008)
ICN

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Factsheet Our right to the highest attainable standard of health (2007)
Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex & IFHHRO

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Prioritization of health interventions and respect for human rights; impact assessments; and water and sanitation and the right to health (2007) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/62/214
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

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Access to medicines and the reduction of maternal mortality (2006) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/61/338
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Caring for Human Rights, Challenges and opportunities for nurses and midwives (2006)
Amnesty International

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

The progress made in reaching the three objectives of the Rapporteur’s mandate and a human rights-based approach to health indicators (2006) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, E/CN.4/2006/48
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

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Health professional skills drain; the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and human rights education for health professionals (2005) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/60/348
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Persons with mental disabilities – Annual report to the Human Rights Council (E/CN.4/2005/51) (2005)
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women: summary report of initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses (2005)
WHO

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Health-related Millennium Development Goals; right to health for indigenous peoples; right to health, child survival and indicators (2004) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/59/422
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

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Type of resource: Books and reports

Sexual and reproductive health and rights; the link between poverty and health; neglected diseases; and violence prevention (2004) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, E/CN.4/2004/49
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

Preventing violence: a guide to implementing the recommendations of the World report on violence and health (2004)
WHO

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor (2003) - Paul Farmer
California Series in Public Anthropology, University of California Press

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Right to health indicators; good practices for the right to health; HIV/AIDS and the right to health; neglected diseases, leprosy and the right to health; and an optional protocol to ICESCR (2003) - Annual report to the UN General Assembly, A/58/427
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Books and reports

The three objectives of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate: to promote the right to health as a fundamental human right; to clarify the contours and content of the right to health; and to identify good practices for the operationalization of the right to health at the community, national and international levels (2003) - Annual report to the Human Rights Council, E/CN.4/2003/58
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Dual Loyalty & Human Rights, in Health Professional Practice (2002)
Physicians for Human Rights and the School of Public Health and Primary Health Care University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Facultyæ

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

25 Questions and Answers on Health and Human Rights (2002) - Health & Human Rights Publication Series Issue No. 1
WHO

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Istanbul Protocol, Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1999)
OHCHR

Open resource
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Type of resource: Manuals and guidelines

Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: Part V: Protection Risks: Prevention, Mitigation and Response. Action Sheet 15 – Health ( 2007)
UNHCR

Open resource
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Type of resource: E-learning

International Forensic Investigation Course
Physicians for Human Rights and the School of Public Health and Primary Health Care University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Faculty

Open resource
Topics:
Type of resource: E-learning

Non-Communicable Diseases and Human Rights course
Program on Global Health and Human Rights of the University of Southern California (USC)

Open resource

Type of resource: Useful websites

Mental Health Europe

Open resource

Type of resource: Useful websites

International Council of Nurses – Nurses, a Voice to Lead

Open resource

Type of resource: Useful websites

Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Open resource

Type of resource: E-learning

Basic E-learning Course on Human Rights and Health
WHO/PAHO

Open resource

Type of resource: E-learning

Human Rights and Public Health course
NextGenU.org

Open resource