Key Messages:
- None of the human rights treaties mention NCDs explicitly, but “other diseases” as noted in the ICESCR can be understood to include NCDs.
- General Comments on the right to health and other rights draw attention to obligations to address NCDs and their risk factors.
- Treaty bodies are increasingly asking countries to report on NCD prevention and control activities, providing an avenue for accountability which remains to be further explored.
- Other human rights mechanisms lag behind the treaty bodies in according attention to NCDs.
Details:
Authors: Program on Global Health and Human Rights, Institute for Global Health, University of Southern California
Published By: Program on Global Health and Human Rights, Institute for Global Health, University of Southern California
Date: May 30, 2013 – June 1, 2013
Publication PDF: Attention to Non Communicable Diseases By the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies