Rights-based approaches to improve people's health in Peru

Abstract

Peru is challenged by poverty, discrimination, and inequity, including starkly different morbidity and mortality rates and a high prevalence of avoidable illnesses and deaths in people who are poor, indigenous populations, and excluded groups. 1 Cotlear D A new social contract for Peru: an agenda for improving education, health care, and the social safety net. A World Bank country study. January, 2006http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/0,,contentMDK:20823300∼pagePK:146736∼piPK:146830∼theSitePK:258554,00.html Crossref Google Scholar , 2 UN High Commissioner for Human RightsUN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. http://www2.sx.ac.uk/human_rights_centre/rth/docs/3pagerupdate%2003%2008.docDate: March 11, 2008 Google Scholar Raising the importance of the right to health as a core obligation to be fulfilled and implementing rights-based approaches within health-sector development in Peru has proven helpful to tackle these challenges. Rights-based approaches, and their principles of inclusion, participation, and fulfilment of obligation, tackle the underlying causes of poverty and disadvantage, and work in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders to address these causes. The right to health: from rhetoric to realityHuman Rights Day on Dec 10 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). A year ago, in the run up to this important milestone, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a campaign that aimed to increase knowledge and awareness of human rights. During the course of the year, many governments and educational, cultural, and human rights institutions have reaffirmed their commitment to the values and principles of the UDHR. The health sector has been strikingly silent, which is tremendously disappointing given that the foundation for the right to health is laid out in this historic document. Full-Text PDF Health systems and the right to health: an assessment of 194 countries60 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights laid the foundations for the right to the highest attainable standard of health. This right is central to the creation of equitable health systems. We identify some of the right-to-health features of health systems, such as a comprehensive national health plan, and propose 72 indicators that reflect some of these features. We collect globally processed data on these indicators for 194 countries and national data for Ecuador, Mozambique, Peru, Romania, and Sweden. Full-Text PDF