• Public health vs rights based approaches

Public health vs rights based approaches

This article, published by Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), highlights the need for reproductive health programmes to collaborate with experts in the fields of ethics, law and human rights in order to address the multiple factors that affect women’s and men’s reproductive health. Key benefits of an integrated rights based approach are identified. These include the provision of an ethical framework for public health practitioners; the positive influence of international treaties, which put pressure on governments to provide adequate health services; and identification of health issues such as maternal mortality as human rights or social justice concerns, which raises their profile and level of urgency for policy makers.

The article also includes guidance on implementing a rights based approach, drawing on the principles of human rights to guide policy, programme design and service delivery, including clients’ access to information, quality of care, and the relationship between clients and providers. It also highlights the advocacy role of health providers, and the capacity of human rights education to empower community members to realise their own reproductive rights. The article concludes by calling for renewed efforts to honour the rights based agendas of the Cairo and Beijing conferences on reproductive health.

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