Health and Human Rights Education

Academic Literature

Academic Literature Supporting Health and Human Rights Education

The articles featured below, from reputable academic journals, utilize peer-reviewed, scientific research methods to provide clear evidence on the necessity of health and human rights education in medical and public health universities. These articles will further strengthen the case for a formal health and human rights education curriculum in your university.

Ideas for Using these Articles

1. Additional evidence when presenting your proposals to the university.
2. Building best strategies by educating yourself on the current climate and history of this critical academic issue.
3. References and citations to stimulate discourse with your campus community and local media.

• PubMed
• Journal of the American Medical Association
• PLoS ONE
• The Lancet
• The New England Journal of Medicine
• American Journal of Public Health
• British Medical Journal
• Annals of Internal Medicine

Selected Health and Human Rights-Related Articles

Health and Human Rights Education in U.S. Schools of Medicine and Public Health: Current Status and Future Challenges, L. Emily Cotter, Jonathan Chevrier, Wael Noor El-Nachef, Rohan Radhakrishna, Lisa Rahangdale, Sheri D. Weiser, Vincent Iacopino
PLoS ONE, Volume 4, Issue 3 (2009)

Abstract: Despite increasing recognition of the importance of human rights in the protection and promotion of health, formal human rights education has been lacking in schools of medicine and public health…(full abstract)

National Initiatives within the UN Decade for Human Rights Education: The Implementation of Human Rights Education Policy Reforms in Schools, Yvette V. Lapayese
Educational Research for Policy and Practice, Volume 3, No. 2 (2004)

Abstract: As the ubiquitous force of globalization further erodes the nation-state and political activity increasingly focuses on global issues, there is renewed attention to models of global education…(full abstract)

Doctors urgently need education in human rights, Peter Hall
The Lancet, Volume 360, Issue 9348 (2002)

Abstract: A global campaign to integrate health and human rights in undergraduate and postgraduate medical training was launched this year by Physicians for Human Rights-UK (PHR-UK)…(full abstract)

Will we take suffering seriously? Reflections on what applying a human rights framework to health means and why we should care, Alicia Ely Yamin
Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, Volume 10, No. 1 (2008)

Abstract: Since this journal was first published, rights-based approaches to health have proliferated in the health and development communities…(full abstract)

Teaching of human rights in US medical schools, Daniel W. Gorenflo, Jha Poonam, Jeffrey Sonis, Christa Williams
Journal of American Medical Association, Volume 276 (1996)

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which human rights issues are included in required bioethics curricula in US medical schools and to identify medical school characteristics associated with the extent of human rights issues covered…(full abstract)

Human rights and medical education: why every medical student should learn the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Editorial), Jennifer Leaning
British Medical Journal, Volume 315 (1997)

Abstract: The quality of medical care might be well served if each entering medical student were required to learn the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948…(full abstract)

World Medical Association (1999) World Medical Association Resolution on the Inclusion of Medical Ethics and Human Rights in the Curriculum of Medical Schools World-Wide
Adopted by the 51st World Medical Assembly Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1999