乔治•亚那和温迪水手在新文章中讨论了人权在公共卫生中的重要性
“(公共)卫生和人权实践” explains a need to focus on the human rights framework in public health.
2014年底,曾在塞拉利昂治疗埃博拉患者的无国界医生护士凯西·希科克斯(Kaci Hickox)回到美国,抵达纽瓦克机场。 新泽西州的卫生官员认为希科克斯发烧了,未经她的同意,命令她立即在纽瓦克大学医院外的医疗帐篷里隔离。 希考克斯在发烧和埃博拉病毒检测中呈阴性,尽管如此,她还是被迫在隔离帐篷里呆了80个小时才最终获释。 一回到家,她就受到缅因州州长和卫生专员的家庭隔离威胁,直到一名法官以无根据为由驳回了该州的请愿。 The incident is one of many that Professors 乔治•亚那 and 温迪水手 find troubling.
In their recent article “(公共)卫生和人权实践,” published by the 卫生政治、政策和法律杂志, Annas and Mariner discuss the relationship between public health and human rights—arguing that public health officials and policymakers should welcome and promote human rights in order to effectively protect the population’s health.
人权框架
人权框架源自1948年的《世界人权宣言》及其实施条约、公约和准则,包括2005年的《世界生命伦理与人权宣言》。 各国有责任尊重、保护和实现人权。 这不仅意味着尊重个人权利和自由,如自主、平等、隐私和不歧视,而且还意味着保护人民免受私营部门和其他第三方构成的威胁。 它还意味着提供实现人权所需的服务,包括健康权。
人权框架和公共卫生的共同目标是保护人民和促进人类福利。 然而,在埃博拉病毒和9/11后的天花恐慌中,政府往往只关注预防流行病,而忽视人权。 在不影响疾病传播的情况下,个人受到不必要的伤害。 “If you have an ethic that holds that the state is empowered to do anything that might possibly protect against any future risk, you grant the state unlimited power. It can be dangerous,” says Mariner.
将人权框架纳入公共卫生政策
对于Annas和Mariner来说,公共卫生的伦理争议不是来自公共卫生的目标,而是来自它的一些方法,比如隔离。 他们写道,由于公共卫生依靠法律来实现其目标,管理公共卫生的道德原则必须与界定政府机构权力和限制的一套更广泛的原则一致。
根据Annas和Mariner的说法,人权框架提供了一套原则,鼓励对卫生政策进行富有成效的综合分析。 “It pays attention to providing services and opportunities that only government can provide,” says Mariner. “It ensures that the government and third parties don’t do things like sell products that are dangerous or damage the environment or contaminate the water supply, as in Flint, Michigan.”
与此同时,人权框架提醒政府,它为实现政策目标而使用的方法不得无理地限制个人自由。 例如,改善就业、收入、住房和环境的政策往往比强迫个人接受医疗或隔离的法律更能保护公众健康。
人权框架是政策制定者有效保护人口和促进人类福利的宝贵工具,无论是在美国还是在全球。
“I think it’s critical to use concepts of human rights in discussing legal issues across national borders,” says Mariner. “Even if you have different legal systems in different countries, all people are equal and understand each other when they speak in the language of human rights.”
作为威廉·费尔菲尔德·沃伦杰出教授,波士顿大学法学院卫生法专业教授,以及波士顿大学公共卫生学院卫生法、生物伦理与人权系主任,安娜斯撰写或编辑了19本澳门威尼斯人注册卫生法和生物伦理的书籍。 His most recent work, 基因组信息, explains how the evolving science of genomics is changing medical care.
Professor of Law and Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law at the School of Public Health 温迪水手 has published articles in the legal, medical, and health policy literature, and along with Annas, co-authored the law school textbook 公共卫生法. She was recently named to the 统一法律委员会检疫申报澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究委员会.
Reported by Greg Yang (CAS’17).