Health Care, Human Rights, and the Challenge of Neoliberalism
Abstract
This article reassesses the views expressed in a 2010 paper titled “Advancing health equity in the global marketplace: How human rights can help” which argued that a commitment to human rights could help overcome the deep inequities in access to the social determinants of health and the resultant inequalities in health status within and between societies. Seven years later the benefits of a human rights approach to health care seem equally valid but the prospects for such a transformative commitment seem more remote. The article identifies political, economic, and health systems impediments to adopting a human rights approach to health care reform. It concludes that widespread support for the achievement of universal health coverage may be the best hope for greater access to health care in some countries.
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For a more in depth analysis of what universal health coverage requires from a human rights perspective and the obstacles to achieving the goal see Chapman, A R. 2016. Global Health, Human Rights and the Challenge of Neoliberal Policies. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, pp. 283-326.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18103/imr.v3i12.601
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