Spotlight on Global Health Governance - National and Global Responsibilities for Health
by Lawrence O Gostin, Mark Heywood, Gorik Ooms, Anand Grover, John-Arne Røttingen, Wang ChenguangThis article is available for free from the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.Lawrence O. Gostin et al., National and Global Responsibilities for Health (Editorial), 88 Bulletin of the World Health Organization 719-20 (October, 2010), available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/10/10-082636.pdf Preventable and treatable injuries and diseases are overwhelming sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent and other impoverished areas of the world. Every year, 8 million children die before they reach the age of 5, more than 300 000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth, and more than 4 million people die of AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis. By 2005, 80% of deaths from noncommunicable diseases were in developing countries. Healthy life expectancy in Africa is 45 years, a full quarter-century less than in high-income countries.
Spotlight on Global Health Inequality - The unconscionable health gap: a global plan for justice
by Lawrence GostinThis article is available online, free of charge from: The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue9725, Pages 1504 - 1505, 1 May 2010 See: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2960065-7/fulltext Health has special meaning and importance to individuals and communities. WHO's Constitution states that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” is a fundamental human right. International law, moreover, requires states to guarantee the right to health. The UN has specified the norms and obligations of the right to health, and appointed a Special Rapporteur.