A two-day Regional Consultation on Public Health and Human Rights was held in New Delhi on 10 & 11 April 2001. It was organized by the National Human Rights Commission in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the World Health Organisation (SEARO).

Speaking at the inaugural session, Justice J.S. Verma, Chairperson, NHRC called for the need to sensitize all elements of society, particularly the younger generation, concerning the human rights aspect of public health. He said that the Commission had always viewed human rights in their wider connotation, as inclusive of every dimension of human development and human dignity. Development with dignity was a core value of human rights. The right to development must therefore include, as an essential component, the right to life itself and the right to good health. It was in furtherance of this concept that the Commission was focusing on public health.

Speaking of the rights of the child, he observed that the period of maximum development of the human brain was before the age of 3 years. The future development and later success of a child depended on his or her early development. Hence, the child’s right to development is a most basic right, which requires care and nurturing by way of adequate nutrition, health care, and appropriate immunization.

Malnutrition among pregnant women is a major cause for under-nourished children. About 177 million children in the world are under-nourished; malnourished girls grow into malnourished mothers who are likely to give birth to children with low birth weight and resultant mental disabilities. 11 million children under 5 years of age die every year from preventable causes. These were the primary reasons that led NHRC to focus attention on access to public health care and adequate nutrition. To develop the linkages between public health and human rights, NHRC had brought together the organizations working in this field -- the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, WHO, NGOs and other concerned UN bodies.

The Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Javed Chowdhury, said that it was the duty of the State to ensure the right of citizens to health services and health care. However, globalisation was changing this role of the State. He highlighted the threats posed by global market forces in the area of public health. He also lamented the lack of funds available to the State for providing the basic amenities. He said that in India, the funds provided for ensuring health facilities was a meager Rs.100/- per capita per year, or a mere $2 per capita per year. He called upon international agencies to ensure that life saving drugs and vaccines should be made affordable, as this affected the basic human right of survival.

Dr. Palitha Abeykoon, Director, WHO, who also spoke on the occasion, said that public health and human rights were intrinsically linked. By promoting public health, human rights could be protected and conversely if human rights were promoted, public health would be ensured.

The Consultation was inaugurated by Nitin Singh, a student of Class IV, Kendriya Vidyalaya, New Delhi and addressed at the opening session by Kanika Sachdeva, a student of Class XII, Blue Bell School, New Delhi. She called for helping children to realize their dream of a healthy society and presented “The Student’s Charter on the Health of Our Land” to the Chairperson.

The Consultation involved interaction between health scientists, health activists, jurists, policymakers and representatives of other sections of civil society. The recommendations generated at the Consultation are being considered by NHRC and will provide a basis to build a framework for advocacy and action to advance public health through relevant administrative, legislative and executive measures.

Recommendations of the Consultation

General Recommendations:

v A State Public Health Regulatory Authority should be established in each of the States as well as a National Public Health Advisory Body to regulate public health practices and monitor the implementation of public health programmes.

v Capacity should be enhanced, at national and regional levels for inter-disciplinary learning and research on linkages between public health and human rights to promote policy development and public health action. To this end, partnerships should be promoted between academic/research institutions of law, public health and social sciences as well as health NGOs and relevant government agencies. Such networks may be established and supported in countries of the South East Asia Region to serve national and regional public health needs.

Recommendations on Access to Health Care:

v Decentralization of authority in health care systems of the country, through Panchayati Raj and other local institutions, by devolution of appropriate financial, administrative and supervisory powers and implementation of all relevant national programmes of Ministries/Departments of Health, Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, Social Justice and Empowerment.

v Standardization and quality-assurance in the training of the various cadres of health care personnel.

v Effective linkage of the primary, secondary and tertiary systems for dependable delivery of essential health care (acute as well as chronic).

v Regulation of irrational or unethical medical practice in the public and private health care sectors of the country, through the development of guidelines for use of drugs, diagnostics and therapeutic procedures, with a regulatory framework for monitoring and enforcement.

v Availability of quality life saving drugs to the population. There should be a price control policy for essential drugs, including all patented drugs, with the prices linked to purchasing capacity of the population.

Recommendations on Tobacco Control:

v All States should be addressed to take steps for passing resolutions for adopting provisions relating to control of all other tobacco products (other than cigarettes) which are presently in the State list. As of now, only four States have passed such resolutions.

v A comprehensive national tobacco policy should be evolved at the highest level in consultation with all the stakeholders in Public Health.

v A multi-sectoral national level nodal agency should be established for tobacco control with strong representation from legal, medical and scientific communities.

v The right of the people to access correct information related to the effects of tobacco consumption must be promoted through programmes of information, education and communication. Such programmes should be adequately supported.

v Assistance for smoking cessation should be integrated into health care services.

v There was a need to review the provision of various incentives for tobacco industry under different Acts including the Tobacco Board Act, 1975, and for doing away with all subsidies (direct and indirect) being provided to the industry.

Recommendations on Nutrition:

v Access to iodised salt should be made available to all sections of population, on a sustained and affordable basis.

v The Infant Milk Substitutes Act should be reviewed with specific reference to violations.

v The Food Corporation of India should be asked to provide a report of losses of significant portions of food grains procured/stored by it over the last three years and the steps taken to monitor and reduce such losses.

v Media guidelines should be prepared to promote best practices of nutrition.

v The implementation of the recommendations of the NHRC sponsored workshop on Maternal Anaemia (April 2000) should be reviewed to evaluate the progress made and the barriers in effective implementation should be identified.

v The proposed Public Health Regulatory Authorities should monitor the effective implementation of the National Nutrition Policy and the National Policies of Action on Nutrition.

v An overview should be initiated by the Ministry of Law and Justice, of the level of compliance with the following international instruments to which India is signatory:

· Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

· Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

· SAARC Declaration on the Girl Child.

These recommendations of the Consultation are now under consideration of the Commission. The final recommendations will soon be sent to the concerned authorities for effective implementation