Overview

Health is no longer considered a luxury for a few, but an inalienable right for all. In recognition of this global consensus towards health as a human right, the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) seeks to highlight the integral linkages between promoting health and upholding human rights. This, we hope, will strengthen the same linkages in India, where health is still making a tentative entry into the domain of individual rights.

About the lecture: “Realising the Right to Health in Practice”

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”.

Despite the legal binding of such a document, however, the right to health is not given adequate weight and significance. The extreme disparities that exist in the world today, both within and between countries, make it crucial that health inequities are addressed, the right to health of all people recognised, and steps taken to remedy the violations of this right. To do this, change at the highest, macro level is necessary, which requires tremendous political will and commitment on the part of people, nations, and the international community. Ms. Mary Robinson through her organisation, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative is working, among other things, to highlight the importance of health as an undeniable human right, and promote a rights-based approach to health systems.

Ms. Mary Robinson

Ms. Mary Robinson was the first woman President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997, later serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She was educated at the University of Dublin (Trinity College), King's Inns Dublin and Harvard Law School to which she won a fellowship in 1967. Throughout the duration of her illustrious career as an academic at Trinity College Law Faculty (1968-90), member of the Irish Senate (1969-89) and a barrister (1967-90, Senior Counsel 1980, English Bar 1973), she has fought for social justice and human rights, and has argued for the cause before the European Court of Human Rights, in the Irish courts as well as at the European Court in Luxemburg. She has also served on the International Commission of Jurists, the Advisory Committee of Interights, and on expert European Community and Irish parliamentary committees.

Ms. Mary Robinson has received numerous honours and awards throughout the world, including the Sydney Peace Prize in 2002, the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in 2003, and Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2004. She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the American Philosophical Society and serves on many boards including the Vaccine Fund. A founding member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and Chancellor of the University of Dublin, she has been Honorary President of Oxfam International since 2002.

Presently, Ms. Mary Robinson is leading “Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative” – her newest project, which aims to put human rights standards at the heart of global governance and policy-making and to ensure that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage. They work, among other things, towards the promotion of equitable trade, humane migration policies, decent work, as well as the right to health.