The Challenge and Place of International Human Rights in Public Health

Abstract

Human rights workers and practitioners of public health share common concerns for the well-being of people, the alleviation of suffering and want, and the promotion of social justice. The potential for cooperation between these 2 committed groups has advanced considerably over the past decade or so as scholars, practitioners, administrators, and activists grapple with the differences in disciplinary language and with limited opportunities for contact. It is the intention of the American Public Health Association (APHA) to join others in bridging these differences, so that the combined efforts of these groups can be focused on the shared goal of bettering the human condition around the world. To advance the dialogue among public health and human rights professionals, there is a growing literature, including several books,1–3 a peer-reviewed academic journal (Health and Human Rights. An International Journal, published by the Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights), regular features of this Journal and of The Lancet, and occasional articles in other leading medical journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine. A chapter on the topic will appear in the fourth edition of The Oxford Textbook on Public Health.4 The movement has been further advanced through several major conferences, such as those organized by the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights in Cambridge, Mass, in 1994 and 1996, and more recently by the University of Iowa5 and Temple University,6 as well as by coalitions and networks such as the Consortium on Health and Human Rights, the International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organizations, and the International Student Association for Health and Human Rights. (For a fairly complete list of organizations and networks involved in the field, see the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library.7) As we confront the issues of public health in the 21st century—including the worldwide spread of HIV/AIDS and other infections, the aging of our populations, and the questions raised by burgeoning health-related technology in the face of gross disparities in access to basic health care—human rights and public health professionals are challenged to forge powerful partnerships to help us attain our mutual aims.