Did the right to health get across the line? Examining the United Nations resolution on the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Since the new global health and development goal, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, and its nine targets and four means of implementation were introduced to the world through a United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution in September 2015, right to health practitioners have queried whether this goal mirrors the content of the human right to health in international law. This study examines the text of the UN SDG resolution, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, from a right to health minimalist and right to health maximalist analytic perspective. When reviewing the UN SDG resolution’s text, a right to health minimalist questions whether the content of the right to health is at least implicitly included in this document, specifically focusing on SDG 3 and its metrics framework. A right to health maximalist, on the other hand, queries whether the content of the right to health is explicitly included. This study finds that whether the right to health is contained in the UN SDG resolution, and the SDG metrics therein, ultimately depends on the individual analyst’s subjective persuasion in relation to right to health minimalism or maximalism. We conclude that the UN General Assembly’s lack of cogency on the right to health’s position in the UN SDG resolution will continue to blur if not divest human rights’ (and specifically the right to health’s) integral relationship to high-level development planning, implementation and SDG monitoring and evaluation efforts.

Prevalence and correlates of intestinal schistosomiasis infection among school-aged children in North-Western Tanzania

“…Nearly half of the participants 49.8% (413/ 830) were males. The mean age of the study participants was 11.7 years (±1.9 SD) and the median age was 12 years (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). At enrolment, 18.7% (155/830) of the enrolled children were complaining of pre-treatment abdominal pain.…”

“…A study done in Kenya, reported an increase in school participation among school children and an increase in productivity among workers who had a history of receiving mass praziquantel treatments while in school [11]. Due to their global burden and impact on development, in 2015 the United Nations General Summit recognized and gave special attention to NTDs under the list of SDGs, Goal number 3.3: "ending the epidemic of NTDs by 2030" [12]. Schistosomiasis is among the 17 NTDs earmarked for elimination globally [13].…”

What did the Go4Health policy research project contribute to the policy discourse on the sustainable development goals? A reflexive review

“…For Go4Health analysts, there is a constant tension between the implicit and explicit reference to the right to health in the post-2015 debate [ 22 , 38 – 41 ]. While rights are referred to in the preamble of the UN motion for the SDGs, Go4Health analysis noted that the right to health does not appear in the goals themselves, although the word right(s) is mentioned two times in the SDG3.b means of implementation [ 37 ].…”

“…While rights are referred to in the preamble of the UN motion for the SDGs, Go4Health analysis noted that the right to health does not appear in the goals themselves, although the word right(s) is mentioned two times in the SDG3.b means of implementation [ 37 ]. Brolan et al’s [ 39 – 41 ] analysis of the UN resolution on the SDGs expressed concern on the lack of specific reference to the right to health in that resolution, and saw this as reflecting the erosion of rights as a construction in the post-2015 debate. This analysis of why the right to health was not explicit in the post-2015 policy negotiations is the only Go4Health paper directly cited in a UN General Assembly resolution [ 39 , 42 ].…”

Desafios do cuidado para o advento da saúde sustentável [Care challenges for the advent of sustainable health] [Cuida los desafíos para el advenimiento de la salud sostenible]

“…Nesse aspecto, os enfermeiros com função de gestor, inerente a sua profissão, têm papel desafiador de participar de ações gestoras e de liderança para implementar os objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável e combater as maleficências da saúde, reconhecendo e abordando as estratégias que englobem aspectos tanto econômico como sociais voltados para o cuidado, seja na atenção básica ou no âmbito hospitalar, no nível nacional ou internacional [18][19][20] .…”