Health and Human Rights

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Human rights are inextricably linked to the achievement of public health policy goals. Human rights under international law, when used as a basis for public health, offer global standards by which to articulate duties and evaluate policies and outcomes under law, shifting the policy debate from political aspiration to legal accountability. This accountability flows from international to federal/national, state and municipal law and policy. This course provides an introduction to the relationship between human rights and health. As a survey course, it ranges broadly over theoretical approaches and concrete issues relating to the realization of human rights, applying a human rights perspective to public health policies, programs, and practices. For students seeking to gain an understanding of human rights, this course will provide an overview of the field of “health and human rights,” giving a foundation for future studies at the intersection of human rights and public health. The field of health and human rights—spanning interconnected legal and public health analysis—has been a powerful force for promoting those human rights that underlie global health. This course seeks to provide a foundational understanding of the field, to (1) explain the norms and principles that define the field, (2) examine the methods and tools for implementing human rights to promote health, (3) apply human rights to leading health threats, and (4) analyze rising human rights challenges in a rapidly globalizing world. The issues addressed throughout the course will reflect the successes of human rights, the challenges of the twenty-first century, and the resilience of humans seeking dignity for themselves and others through expanding rights in global health. This course will teach you how to apply human rights to a wide range of critical issues in global health, exploring the role of human rights as both a safeguard against harm and a catalyst for health promotion. Upon completion, you will have acquired an understanding of the social, economic, cultural, legal, and political processes by which human rights inform health objectives. Where rising threats in an increasingly divided world are challenging the progressive evolution of health-related human rights, this course will provide you with the tools to revitalize human rights at the center of public health practice and secure a future of global health with justice. This detailed understanding of the evolving relationship between global health and human rights will provide a foundation for advancing health policies, programs, and practice.