Human Rights Provide Justification for the Health in All Policies Approach
Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, June 2013, Forthcoming
4 Pages Posted: 26 May 2013 Last revised: 15 Feb 2015
Date Written: May 25, 2013
Abstract
On 10-14 June, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Finland’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will host the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Helsinki, Finland. The Global Conference will highlight Health in All Policies (HiAP), an approach that has evolved over the past quarter century – arising out of a focus on primary health care in the 1978 Alma Alta Declaration and emphasizing intersectoral action on underlying determinants of health in the 1986 Ottawa Charter. In reviewing national experiences with the HiAP approach and establishing guidance for implementation at all levels of governance, this Conference presents an opportunity to advance HiAP through the application of human rights, applying human rights to justify the mainstreaming of health in the development and implementation of public policy. Viewing HiAP as instrumental to a rights-based approach to health, it is necessary for the Global Conference to consider the beneficial application of “health-related rights” to the HiAP approach.
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