Book: "Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights" i
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| Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights |
This book would have been a timely and great read back in 1998 when my online career began. Of course, back then the global health and human rights environment we know today was incomplete; even as core challenges and barriers were a known and frustrating presence. In nursing theory, practice and management there was much policy and politics to also run its course. As policy and law continue to play out over the past two decades, the relevance of Hodges' model is also continually affirmed.
"Foundations .." is a dense read, but it is meant to be. There are two clues, one is on the cover especially if your work is in health, in a developed nation, but you have no experience of working in humanitarian crisis situations. Thankfully, or not, that is the case for the vast majority of us, but this text could persuade many to get involved. Many who might think of nursing, medicine, public health and other more obvious clinical pathways may realise there is another way
The other clue is how each chapter has a series of questions to check your reading and attention. I could not answer them all but I will hide behind the excuse that in providing the foundations I am busy laying bricks, timber, whatever materials are to hand. The book was published last year and COVID-19 is ongoing and recognised as a global event, but its full impact is not yet apparent. Whether this could justify a revised edition I'm not sure. There is much to add, but the same can be said of so many books now.
Nonetheless the book delivers, organised in four sections:
I. The Human Rights Movement: International Norms and Principles
II. Bringing Rights Home: Tools for Human Rights Implementation and Accountability
III. Contemporary Applications: Healthy People, Healthy Populations
IV. New Challenges: Human Rights to Advance Public Health in a Globalizing Era
From OUP, the quality [pb] is high as expected, with clear type and an appealing, if conventional layout. The book is pretty heavy, 254x178mm and over more than 467 pages. In the car the steering wheel is a welcome support (wanting the book placed higher).
A foreword by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus [@DrTedros] Director-General of the World Health Organization acknowledges the arrival of COVID and WHO's role as a catalyst in the global response. Dr Tedros concludes:
"'Health is a human right' must be more than just a slogan - it must be embedded in international law, national legislation, and health policies, a commitment to protecting and promoting the right to health for all people, in all countries, through global solidarity." p.xiv
| QUALITY, SUBJECTIVE |
OBJECTIVE, QUANTITY |
| "Health is a human right" | "Health is a human right" |
From the introduction and throughout the explanation of history is very welcome. The book readily qualifies as a foundational teaching text. The preface's intent to provide a holistic perspective on the field, is well achieved. There is a developmental pathway in the sections and chapters with references back to what was covered previously. This is helpful and in my reading drew attention to what still must be resolved.
More to follow ...
Foundations of Global Health & Human Rights. (2020) Lawrence O. Gostin and Benjamin Mason Meier (Eds.), Oxford: OUP. ISBN: 9780197528303.
orcid.org/0000-0002-0192-8965