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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

H. Jack Geiger, MD, MSciHyg, Community Health and Social Medicine, City University of New York Medical School, City College of New York, Harris 401, 138th Street at Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, 212-650-6860, jgeiger@igc.org

Significant attention to health as a human right began after World War II with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the creation of the World Health Organization. The real focus of these efforts, however, was on access to health care and a vaguely defined goal of achieving "the highest attainable standard of health, and neglect by most advocacy organizations of economic and social rights as the essential determinants of a right to health. Instead, their efforts centered on the health consequences of human rights violations, ignoring the conflict between the goal of health as a human right and U.S. domestic and foreign policy. An examination of the work of Physicians for Human Rights USA and other organizations, however, shows progress over time to more direct pursuit of social justice goals.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the domestic and international contexts of advocacy for "health as a human right"
• To examine the conflict between that goal and U.S. domestic and foreign policies
• To describe the consequences of government abrogation of economic and social rights

Keywords: Social Justice, Advocacy

Related Web page: www.phrusa.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No