New issue paper: Rachel Hammonds, “Protecting the right to health through inclusive and resilient health care for all” (Office of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, 2021)

LDRN member Dr. Rachel Hammonds, of the University of Antwerp Law & Development Research Group (an LDRN partner institution), recently authored the Issue Paper on Protecting the right to health through inclusive and resilient health care for all for the Office of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. The paper forms the basis for 12 recommendations by Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović to member states. The recommendations set out the various components required to deliver inclusive and resilient health care systems and underline the need for a broader social rights perspective taking into account the social determinants of health.
 
The paper is intended as a tool to help governments address the urgency of protecting the right to health in an environment where health inequalities have been growing and causing significant social, human and economic costs to individuals and societies. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded this situation, exposing the weaknesses of health care systems strained by years of austerity, economic difficulties and neglect.