Health should be seen as a human right, global campaign says

Should health be seen as the central goal and means?

WHO’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health makes the case that ‘(t)he development of a society, rich or poor, can be judged by the quality of its population’s health, how fairly health is distributed across the social spectrum, and the degree of protection provided from disadvantaged due to ill-health’. The argument is that the health of a given population is a measure of how well th...

Clean Water Should Be Recognized as a Human Right

United States refused to support a declaration that would recognize water as a basic human right. The special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain, and endorsed by the President of the UN General Assembly, was instead rejected in favor of further examination of issues of access to safe drinking water and sanitation [1]. Opposition to this declaration runs counter to considerable evidence th...

Parenthood should be regarded as a right.

T he experience of parenthood is considered to be central to individual identity and to the life plan of most people in most societies. There are many reasons for wanting children: to give and receive love, as an expression of the couple’s unity, to give meaning or add value to one’s life, for the enjoyment or pleasure of children, to carry on the family name, to be like other friends, to give ...

Should Campaign Donors Be Identified?

Parenthood should not be regarded as a right.

In September 2004 the BBC broadcast a debate in the Straw Poll series about whether parenthood should be regarded as a right. The motion was carried by a large majority both among the audience present at the recording, and among listeners who were invited to telephone in with their votes, and views at a subsequent feedback programme. The arguments are presented here, in order to stimulate debat...