Patient care is a discrete and important aspect of the right to health that merits attention and scrutiny as a human rights issue. A vast and severe range of human rights violations occur in the patient care context that violate rights in addition to the right to health, including many civil and political rights. The concept of human rights in patient care refers to the theoretical and practical application of general human rights principles to the patient care context, particularly to interactions between patients and providers.
The human rights architecture at the international level provides an important formal and procedural framework for addressing abuses of human rights in patient care.
The international and European human rights regime utilizes individual monitoring bodies, courts and other special procedures to enforce its provisions. These bodies include such treaty bodies as the United Nations Human Rights Committee, courts like the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and a number of special procedures, e.g. the Special Rapporteurs mandated by the Human Rights Council.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.
The UDHR is not a treaty but it is highly authoritative. It has shaped the evolution of modern human rights law, and many of its provisions are effectively reproduced in international treaties. The right to medical care is declared in article 25.
- Right to Life
The right to life has a specific meaning in the context of human rights in patient care related to the state responsibility to provide for and continuously improve health care services. This includes care for members of marginalized or criminalized groups or the disabled, whose lives may be seen as having less value in some settings, or are at risk as a result of arbitrary denial of health care services
- Right to Liberty and Security of the Person
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are among those treaties that have elaborated the right to liberty and security of the person and whose enforcement bodies have applied this right to the context of patients’ rights. These instruments generally stipulate protections against unfounded detention, quarantine, or other restraint, requiring that procedural protections be created by the state legislatures to ensure due process review of any detention in the name of heath or public health.
In the European context, the right to liberty and security of the person is specifically constrained by the state’s interests, including the mandate to protect public health, but only under strict limitations.
- Right to Bodily Integrity
Another important patient right is the right to bodily integrity, which is specifically guaranteed by the CRC and CRPD. This right is closely related to the bioethical principle of autonomy and focuses on self-determination, informed consent, and freedom from unwanted medical intervention.
- Right to Privacy and Confidentiality
Another essential patient protection is the right to privacy and confidentiality as it applies to health information. This right is covered under a number of international treaties as well as the World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration on the Rights of the Patient. These instruments address the related right to information, which emphasizes patient access to personal health records as well as broader health promotion content as a means to improve institutional transparency in the provision of health care.
- Right to Non-discrimination and Equality
In universal and equal access for all people, the right to nondiscrimination and equality represents a key component of human rights in patient care. Provisions that elaborate this right create special protection and enforcement mechanisms for marginalized groups, including racial, gender, and other minorities, women, people living with HIV/AIDS, disabled persons, children, and migrants, among others. The ECHR flatly prohibits discrimination on “any ground such as sex, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.” This provision of the ECHR is related to a wide array of more specific affirmative laws aimed at protecting and strengthening the rights and well-being of migrants and stateless persons, persons with disabilities,98 children,99 and national minorities,100 among others.
In summary, the legal regulation of human rights in patient care totally cover all requirements, provide not only declarative rules, but also high level of implementation and various methods of control and regulation.
SOURSES:
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights URL: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
URL: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights
3. Convention on the Rights of the Child
URL: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
4. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
URL: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2.html
5. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
URL: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-against-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading
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Науковий керівник: Заморська Любов Ігорівна, д.ю.н, доцент кафедри теорії права та прав людини Чернівецького національного університету ім.Ю.Федьковича
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