Dear colleagues,
It has been very interesting to follow this discussion and I would like to join in to share some experiences of the WHO in engaging with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health ('the right to health'), Prof. Paul Hunt.
WHO supports the work of the Special Rapporteur on the right to health both at Headquarters level and during country missions. WHO provides input to the reports of the Special Rapporteur and disseminates and encourages the use of his reports to guide health development programming. Recently, WHO technical departments have for example been engaged in consultations on relevant aspects of Prof. Hunt's forthcoming report on the right to health in the context of health systems. I have also had the experience of engaging with the Special Rapporteur on his two country missions to Uganda, during which time I was based with the WHO country office in Uganda as a Health and Human Rights Officer.
In March 2005 the Special Rapporteur on the right to health carried out a country mission to Uganda, which focused on neglected tropical diseases. WHO Headquarters and the WHO country office in Uganda supported and organized the logistics of the mission in collaboration with government counterparts and OHCHR. WHO also provided information to the report of the Special Rapporteur and supported follow-up and awareness raising/monitoring of his recommendations.
In May 2006, WHO and OHCHR supported the Ministry of Health in organizing a health and human rights capacity building workshop with the objectives to explain the linkages between health and human rights and explore how human rights can be used as a tool for analysis, implementation and monitoring of the Uganda Health Sector Strategic Plan II. The workshop included parallel sessions on specific health and human rights issues. The recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in his Uganda mission report were incorporated into sessions on "patients' rights and community empowerment" and "neglected diseases". Other sessions on "sexual and reproductive health rights" and "mental health and human rights" were informed by previous reports of the Special Rapporteur addressing these themes. The workshop brought together a large number of participants from the Ministry of Health, other ministries, the Uganda Human Rights Commission, academic institutions, NGOs and UN agencies. The workshop initiated a dialogue on health and human rights within the Ministry of Health, identified recommendations and supported strategic partnerships between health and human rights professionals.
One of Prof. Hunt's recommendations on monitoring and accountability was for the Uganda Human Rights Commission to establish a right to health unit which would hold duty bearers accountable in relation to the right to health and neglected diseases. This recommendation was discussed during the mentioned workshop and at other meetings, which supported the Uganda Human Rights Commission in its efforts to respond positively to the recommendation. The Commission had already carried out activities on the right to health, and in 2006 the Right to Health Unit was established.
In February 2007, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health carried out a second country mission to Uganda. OHCHR and WHO supported the preparations of the mission, which had as principal objectives to understand the role of Sweden/Sida in relation to the right to health in Uganda; and to follow up on the recommendations from the 2005 mission. During the mission of Prof. Hunt, a number of meetings were held to provide information in relation to the mission objectives. However, the visit of Prof. Hunt also provided an opportunity to bring together a broad range of health and human rights professionals to a stakeholders meeting. The meeting sensitized the participants on the right to health; reviewed the progress made towards implementation of the recommendations from the 2005 mission on neglected diseases; and provided a human rights analysis and recommendations of the Health Sector Strategic Plan II as a contribution to the forthcoming mid-term review of the health strategy. WHO worked together with the Ministry of Health, OHCHR and Sida in organising the meeting and the presence of Prof. Hunt helped ensuring a high level participation from Government, including the Minister of Health, the Permanent Secretary, the Director General and several Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners from the Ministry of Health, and the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission.
In Uganda, an increasing number of partners, including both health and human rights professionals, are starting to address health from a human rights perspective. The engagement with the Special Rapporteur has helped to put important, but marginalised, issues on the agenda. For example, the CAP 2007 for Northern Uganda includes for the first time a response to some of the neglected diseases faced by IDPs. WHO and the Vector Control Division of the Ministry of Health are presently developing a booklet to raise awareness about neglected diseases and the right to health. The recommendations from the Stakeholders' meeting with the Special Rapporteur are intended to guide the forthcoming mid-term review of the Health Sector Strategic Plan II. While not a principal objective of the Special Rapporteur's mission, the stakeholders' meeting and the participation of the Special Rapporteur was used as opportunity for awareness raising and to support the integration of key right to health issues into the health strategy.
If possible - of course depending on the specific mandate of the Special Rapporteur and the sensitiveness of the issues -, I believe that government counterparts should to the largest extent possible participate in the planning of the country mission. This increases the ownership of the mission and its consequent recommendations. It encourages a constructive dialogue between the Special Rapporteur and government counterparts. Also, if possible, use the mission of the Special Rapporteur as an opportunity to strengthen partnerships, ongoing programmes and government interest. The two missions of the Special Rapporteur on the right of health have been very helpful in supporting ongoing initiatives to address human rights based development programming and awareness in the health sector.
I hope that these experiences are useful and I look forward to the rest of the discussion.
With best regards,
Annelie Rostedt
Health and Human Rights
Department of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Health Law
Sustainable Development & Healthy Environments
World Health Organization
20 Avenue Appia, CH 1211, Geneva 27
Switzerland
Ph: 41 (22) 791 5078
E-mail: rostedta@who.int
Health & Human Rights website: www.who.int/hhr
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