Chapter 5. The Human Rights Responsibility of International Assistance and Cooperation in Health

Mesquita, Judith Bueno de; Hunt, Paul; Khosla, Rajat

doi:10.9783/9780812204841.104

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…However as Bueno de Mesquita, Hunt and Khosla note, “Like many elements of human rights, the parameters of international assistance and cooperation in economic, social and cultural rights are not yet settled” [19]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We argue that the international obligation for states in a position to cooperate and provide assistance is a complementary or supplementary obligation that does not limit or qualify the primary obligation of the state to spend the maximum of available resources towards achieving the right to health, and all other rights, not just the minimum core [19,22]. Thus, in assessing the ability of low-income countries to fulfil their core obligations, one should not only consider a state’s domestic resources but also resources they receive through international assistance and cooperation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Under the (legal) radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations

Hammonds

Ooms

Vandenhole

2012

BMC Int Health Hum Rights

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BackgroundGiven that many low income countries are heavily reliant on external assistance to fund their health sectors the acceptance of obligations of international assistance and cooperation with regard to the right to health (global health obligations) is insufficiently understood and studied by international health and human rights scholars. Over the past decade Global Health Initiatives, like the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) have adopted novel approaches to engaging with stakeholders in high and low income countries. This article explores how this experience impacted on acceptance of the international obligation to (help) fulfil the right to health beyond borders.MethodsThe authors conducted an extensive review of international human rights law literature, transnational legal process literature, global public health literature and grey literature pertaining to Global Health Initiatives. To complement this desk work and deepen their understanding of how and why different legal norms evolve the authors conducted 19 in-depth key informant interviews with actors engaged with three stakeholders; the European Union, the United States and Belgium. The authors then analysed the interviews through a transnational legal process lens.ResultsThrough according value to the process of examining how and why different legal norms evolve transnational legal process offers us a tool for engaging with the dynamism of developments in global health suggesting that operationalising global health obligations could advance the right to health for all.ConclusionsIn many low-income countries the health sector is heavily dependent on external assistance to fulfil the right to health of people thus it is vital that policies and tools for delivering reliable, long-term assistance are developed so that the right to health for all becomes more than a dream. Our research suggests that the Global Fund experience offers lessons to build on.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Under the (legal) radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations

Hammonds

Ooms

Vandenhole

2012

BMC Int Health Hum Rights

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“…Nonetheless, the international human rights framework does constitute a critical normative and ethical discourse on HHR migration, albeit one somewhat constrained by competition between individual and collective rights within different human rights treaties [37]. The right of health workers to migrate, for example, may compete with the right of other individuals to have access to core health services [11]. Some human rights scholars argue for a hierarchy of rights, placing some as more basic than others (such as the right to health) and underscoring the principle that all human rights should give disproportionate emphasis to more vulnerable populations (thereby emphasizing the impact of health worker migration on poorer source countries) [38].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the participation of countries such as Canada in the 'International Health Partnership + Related Initiatives', a new (September 2007) multilateral project to operationalize the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness with a focus on the health MDGs, is compromised through the loss of health workers to Canada and other developed countries from those health aid-recipient nations targeted by this Initiative. There are ethical dimensions to the economics of such flows, and complex human rights considerations, consequences and responsibilities which extend beyond those of individual health workers' seeking to migrate [11-13]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on the ethics of recruiting foreign-trained human resources for health

2011

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BackgroundDeveloped countries' gains in health human resources (HHR) from developing countries with significantly lower ratios of health workers have raised questions about the ethics or fairness of recruitment from such countries. By attracting and/or facilitating migration for foreign-trained HHR, notably those from poorer, less well-resourced nations, recruitment practices and policies may be compromising the ability of developing countries to meet the health care needs of their own populations. Little is known, however, about actual recruitment practices. In this study we focus on Canada (a country with a long reliance on internationally trained HHR) and recruiters working for Canadian health authorities.MethodsWe conducted interviews with health human resources recruiters employed by Canadian health authorities to describe their recruitment practices and perspectives and to determine whether and how they reflect ethical considerations.Results and discussionWe describe the methods that recruiters used to recruit foreign-trained health professionals and the systemic challenges and policies that form the working context for recruiters and recruits. HHR recruiters' reflections on the global flow of health workers from poorer to richer countries mirror much of the content of global-level discourse with regard to HHR recruitment. A predominant market discourse related to shortages of HHR outweighed discussions of human rights and ethical approaches to recruitment policy and action that consider global health impacts.ConclusionsWe suggest that the concept of corporate social responsibility may provide a useful approach at the local organizational level for developing policies on ethical recruitment. Such local policies and subsequent practices may inform public debate on the health equity implications of the HHR flows from poorer to richer countries inherent in the global health worker labour market, which in turn could influence political choices at all government and health system levels.

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“…In the absence of other ways to deal with the crisis effectively, these states have the right to restrict emigration. The counterarguments are that there are always other effective strategies worth pursing rather than putting the burden on the shoulders of health workers; i that so few states meet Brock's threshold conditions that her proposals would never actually come into play; and the evidence for restricting the right to leave either in terms of time or taxation is too mixed to allow us to take such a step 2…”

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confidence: 99%

Comment on Brock and Blake: debating brain drain

Cole¹

2016

J Med Ethics

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In this response I focus largely on Brock's arguments for the right of developing nations to restrict emigration of health workers. Brock claims that the conditions she specifies for this restriction are fair and reasonable, but I dispute whether it is possible to meet those conditions given fundamental inequalities in power. In the end, there are far more powerful agents than health workers who are responsible for causing and solving the 'brain drain' issue.

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Chapter 5. The Human Rights Responsibility of International Assistance and Cooperation in Health

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Under the (legal) radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations

Under the (legal) radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations

Reflections on the ethics of recruiting foreign-trained human resources for health

Comment on Brock and Blake: debating brain drain

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