The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (Fig 1), establishing a human
rights foundation under the United Nations (UN), has become a cornerstone of global
health, central to public health policies throughout the world. As the world commemorates
the 75th anniversary of the UDHR on 10 December, this “Human Rights Day” celebration
arrives at a critical juncture for human rights in global health, raising an imperative
for World Health Organization (WHO) reforms (Fig 2) to strengthen the right to health
and health-related human rights.
10.1371/journal.pgph.0002663.g001
Fig 1
Commission on Human Rights Chair Eleanor Roosevelt exhibits the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (United Nations).
10.1371/journal.pgph.0002663.g002
Fig 2
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses the World Health Assembly
(World Health Organization).
Promising beginnings for global health and human rights
Out of the atrocities of World War II, states looked to advance human rights under
international law, with the 1945 UN Charter elevating human rights as a principal
basis of post-war governance. Establishing health governance under the UN, the 1946
WHO Constitution operationalized human rights for public health, proclaiming for the
first time that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one
of the fundamental rights of every human being” [1]. The UN General Assembly drew
from these advancements in adopting the UDHR on 10 December 1948, enumerating a broad
set of fundamental rights and declaring “a common standard of achievement for all
peoples and all nations.” Public health was crucial to the UDHR, as states framed
medical care and determinants of health as human rights:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being
of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and
necessary social services… [2]
Political challenges for human rights in global health
However, the advancement of human rights would face challenges in the years that followed.
With the “Cold War” dividing the world, human rights became central to international
divisions, with Western nations embracing civil and political rights and the Soviet
Bloc favoring economic and social rights [3]. The “Universal Declaration” split along
geopolitical lines, with the UN resorting to separate 1966 covenants: the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Continuing Western opposition to socio-economic
rights limited ICESCR codification of the “right of everyone to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” [4].
Yet as colonized states gained independence and joined WHO governance, WHO embraced
human rights anew as a basis to advance public health. WHO looked to the right to
health in building political support for “primary health care” under the 1978 Declaration
of Alma-Ata. Drawing from these efforts, the unfolding HIV/AIDS pandemic would give
rise in the 1980s to a “health and human rights” movement. Civil society challenged
government infringements on individual liberties in the early HIV/AIDS response, including
discrimination against sexual minorities, as WHO came to recognize an “inextricable
linkage” between public health and human rights–beginning in the equal rights of affected
populations and extending to access to essential medicines [5].
At the turn of the millennium, the UN sought to interpret the right to health to reflect
these modern public health principles, elaborating obligations to address “underlying
determinants of health” [6]. WHO looked to establish these health-related rights under
global health law [7]. As WHO Member States revised the International Health Regulations
(IHR), amendments reflected human rights, with IHR (2005) requiring “full respect
for the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons” [8]. Human rights
had become essential in responding to the health harms of a globalizing world; yet,
an unprecedented pandemic would challenge human rights in global health.
Rights violations in the pandemic response
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, governments ignored scientific evidence, rejected
global governance, and infringed human rights [9]. While the pandemic response initially
held promise in bringing the world together to face a common challenge through universal
rights, this hope rapidly gave way to ineffective and harmful measures. In violation
of IHR obligations and fundamental rights, states introduced emergency measures that
stoked discrimination, violated civil liberties, and restrained access to economic,
health, and social needs [10].
Abandoning global solidarity in defiance of international obligations, wealthy nations
instituted draconian border closures and discriminatory travel bans. These border
closures came as governments in the Global North used their economic power to maintain
control over essential medical countermeasures–ventilators, diagnostics, and personal
protective equipment [11]. Undermining the right to health, these nationalist policies
proved disastrous for poorer countries in the Global South, which faced underfunded
health systems and weakened social protection programs.
These failures of global solidarity continued in global vaccination efforts. The international
intellectual property regime proved incapable of ensuring vaccine equity to realize
human rights. Even as the World Trade Organization provided concessions through limited
patent waivers, legal obstacles endured in global efforts to ensure vaccine production
and distribution [12]. With global governance dependent on the goodwill of donors
and vaccine manufacturers, a two-tiered system emerged, as many in the Global South
relied on inadequate donations while governments in the Global North hoarded vaccines,
undermining justice in the pandemic response.
Law reforms to revitalize rights in public health emergencies
These rights violations in a global health crisis have underscored the need to strengthen
human rights obligations in future public health emergencies. Human rights can serve
as a potent catalyst for government accountability and global solidarity. In many
countries, advocates have realized significant health achievements through human rights,
not only in preventing violations during the COVID-19 pandemic but also in advancing
equity across health systems. These bottom-up movements have revitalized understanding
and application of human rights under international law as a basis for public health.
Recognizing an imperative to align global health policy with human rights law, the
Global Health Law Consortium and the International Commission of Jurists worked collaboratively
through the COVID-19 pandemic to reach consensus on “Principles and Guidelines on
Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies” [13]. These Principles clarify human rights
standards applicable in the prevention of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery
from such emergencies. In so doing, the Principles take an expansive view of “public
health emergencies,” recognizing that safeguarding human rights remains essential
to an effective and equitable public health emergency response.
Framing this emergency response in global governance, WHO Member States are undertaking
negotiations to reform global health law, seeking amendments of the IHR and the development
of a new Pandemic Accord; yet, diplomatic obstacles have raised uncertainty about
whether the resulting legal instruments will prioritize human rights, equity, and
accountability [14]. Looking beyond vague references to the “right to health,” advocates
argue that transformative reforms must translate human rights principles into tangible
obligations and mechanisms that facilitate accountability for human rights realization
[15]. This human rights framework must be applied across global health policies, programmes,
and practices, including critical areas such as access to medicines, intellectual
property, health system financing, access and benefit-sharing, and One Health.
The coming negotiations, continuing amid rising international divisions, will determine
how global governance meets future emergencies–and whether the world responds to global
health threats without sacrificing our shared humanity. The future of human rights
in global health will be established in these global health law reforms, but ultimately,
the human rights movement must transcend this moment. For rights to be become a reality
in health, realizing the promise of the UDHR, they must be mainstreamed across global
health governance, ensuring that the rights of individuals are safeguarded in all
global health efforts.