Program Overview

Introduction to the Health and Human Rights Programme

The Health and Human Rights Programme was established in 1997 as a collaboration between the School of Public Health and Family Medicine and the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture, a human rights NGO in Cape Town. The programme's initial focus was on supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Health Sector hearings and promoting human rights in the health sector.

Programme Overview

The Health and Human Rights Programme conducts research and teaching at the interface of Public Health and Human Rights. This interdisciplinary field aims to strengthen health systems and provide a voice to marginalized communities and groups. The programme seeks to strengthen public health competencies in human rights and community agency to address factors that adversely impact health and rights.

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

The programme has trained health professional students in human rights, recognizing its critical importance in producing graduates who can incorporate social justice and equity into their practice. A 5-day short course in Health and Human Rights was offered from 1998 to 2013, training over 250 academic staff and health professionals. Although the course is discontinued, the materials are still available for use and adaptation under a Creative Commons copyright license.

Postgraduate Courses

The Division of Public Health Medicine runs a module on Public Health and Human Rights on the MPH programme, aiming to equip graduates with an understanding of human rights in developing and assessing health policies. MPH students can also choose a human rights topic for their dissertation under supervision. The programme has also taken on dissertation-only students conducting research on health rights topics.

Research

Research in the Health and Human Rights Programme has focused on four areas:

• Identifying how to include human rights in health professional training
• Exploring how human rights can be integrated into Public Health Policies
• Understanding and developing better practice for the realization of the right to health for communities
• Research with vulnerable groups to reduce their vulnerability

Resources and Materials

Toolkit on the Right to Health

The Toolkit on the Right to Health is a practical tool designed to empower communities on what the right to health means, how to identify violations of health rights, and how to respond to these violations. It can be used as a standalone source of information or as a training tool for workshops on the right to health.

Right to Health Pamphlets

Pamphlets are available in English, Afrikaans, and IsiXhosa, covering topics such as:

• The Right to Health
• Community Involvement and the Right to Health
• The Patients' Rights Charter
• Individual and Collective Rights in Public Health
• Access to Information and the Right to Health and Health Care
• Rights and Resource Allocation

Seminars and Workshop Reports

A Special Noon Meeting Seminar was held on 12 March 2015 by Professor Fons Coomans and Dr. Helen Cox on "The Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress and Access to Medicines for Drug Resistant TB".

Programme Leadership

The Head of the Health and Human Rights Programme is Professor Leslie London.