Postgraduate Course: Health and Human Rights: Principles, Practice and Dilemmas (SCPL11015)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Aim: To provide students with an understanding of rights-based approaches to health and to enable them to apply these to the practice of global public health.
The course will cover the right to health, rights-based approaches to health and ethical issues arising in the practice of global public health. Following an introduction to the principles, theories and international instruments, the module will then explore their application by means of five case studies. Each case study will allow students to critically examine a contemporary aspect of health and human rights, ranging from individual litigation, community empowerment, changes in government policy, to addressing ethical questions in global public health research.
The course will:
Examine the theory of health and human rights, including international legal instruments and their relevance to health including: the International Convenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Commission on the Status of Women.
Critically assess ways in which the right to health and rights-based approaches have been used to empower communities, change government policy through international legal instruments and by individuals, in litigation to gain access to treatment.
Apply human rights principles to contemporary challenges in global public health via the use of case studies.
Critically analyse the challenges involved operationalisation of a rights based approach to heath and in research.
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| Course description |
This course will examine key concepts, principles and instruments of human rights and bioethics and discuss its application to the right to health and contemporary challenges in global public health practice. These challenges will be explored through specific case studies which address wide ranging ethical questions: from system level (financing and delivery of health care), individual litigation, community level organising to addressing ethical questions in biomedical/life sciences or public health research.
We will examine ethical issues in public health in a global context and examine ways in which rights based approaches to health have been used to empower communities to seek entitlements, shape and reform policy at international and national level. Human rights and Bioethics will be the foundational tools for critically evaluating global health policies and their impact.
Aim: To provide students with an understanding of rights-based approaches to health and to enable them to apply these to the practice of global public health.
The course will:
* Examine the theory of health and human rights and introduce international legal instruments and covenants and their relevance to health.
* Critically assess ways in which the right to health and rights-based approaches have been used to empower communities, change government policy and by individuals, in litigation to gain access to entitlements.
* Apply human rights principles to contemporary challenges in global public health via the use of case studies, including HIV&AIDS, Mental Health, sexual and reproductive rights among others
* Critically analyse the challenges involved in operationalising a rights based approach to health and in researching its progress.
Outline Content
The course will be structured around 10 teaching units taught as single 2.5 hour class. The introductory class will outline key principles of human rights, its contemporary significance and debates on the limitations and strengths of its application in the diverse fields of health and development. Remaining nine units will each examine their application by means of case studies. Each case study will allow students to critically examine a contemporary aspect of health and human rights, ranging from individual litigation, community empowerment, changes in government policy, to addressing ethical questions in global public health research. Key focal areas include mental health, sexual and reproductive rights, NCDs/ tobacco control, HIV & AIDS among others.
The course will be taught by an interactive combined lecture and seminar. Each unit will combine different formats, including group work and discussions around case studies, audio/visuals and presentation to peers. You will be expected to read in advance and take active part in seminars, as this is a central part of the learning process.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Explain in depth the theory of human rights, as they have been applied to ¿second generation¿ social, economic and cultural rights such as health, and relate this theory to key international legal instruments and covenants.
- Critically assess ways in which the right to health and rights-based approaches have been used to reform policy at national and international levels, and to empower communities and individuals, to vindicate legal entitlements through judicial enforcement.
- Apply human rights principles to contemporary global health problems, via case studies.
- Critically analyse the challenges involved in operationalising a rights based approach to health.
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Reading List
Backman et al 2008 Health systems and the right to health: an assessment of 194 countries The Lancet, Volume 372, Issue 9655, Pages 2047 - 2085, 13 December 2008
Hunt, P., Backman, G., 2008. Health systems and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Health and Human Rights, 10 (1), 81¿92.
Gruskin, S. Grodin M, Annas G, Marks S ed (2005) Perspectives on health and human rights. Routledge: New York and London.
Gruskin, S., Mill, E.J., Tarantola, D., 2007. History, principles, and practice of health and human rights. Lancet, 370, 449¿455.
Gruskin S, Ahmed S, Bogecho D, Ferguson L, Hanefeld J, MacCarthy J, Raad Z & Steiner R (2012) ¿Human rights in health systems frameworks: What is there, what is missing and why does it matter?¿, Global Public Health, DOI:10.1080/17441692.2011.651733
Braveman, P., Gruskin, S., 2003. Poverty, equity, human rights and health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 81 (7), 539¿545.
Csete, J., Cohen, J., 2010. Health benefits of legal services for criminalized populations: the case of people who use drugs, sex workers and sexual and gender minorities. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38 (4), 816¿831.
Schrecker, T., Chapman, A.R., Labonté, R., De Vogli, R., 2010. Advancing health equity in the global marketplace: how human rights can help. Social Science and Medicine, 71 (8), 1520¿1526.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kaveri Qureshi
Tel: (0131 6)51 1637
Email: kqureshi@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Cath Thompson
Tel: (0131 6)51 3892
Email: cthomps7@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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