Health and human rights in Europe

About this book

"The area of 'health and human rights' is a new and emerging field of law. Taking a 'health and human rights approach' means using international, European and national human rights law in relation to a wide range of health issues, including access to health care, health data protection, the quality of pharmaceutical drugs, as well as medical-ethical issues such as abortion and euthanasia. There is, however, still very little understanding of the various and multiple legal interfaces between 'health' and 'human rights', and of the implications of this approach for legal research and practice. To fill this gap, this volume seeks to outline the legal content and implications of this new area of the law. Its focus is on Europe, as the European context raises specific questions, not only from a legal and a political perspective, but also in terms of health issues and health outcomes. The book first discusses how the European institutions (the Council of Europe and the European Union) deal with health and human rights. Subsequently, it describes the meaning of the most important human rights involved in this area, and it addresses a variety of themes and approaches that engage with health and human rights links, including patient rights, reproductive health, and issues surrounding death and dying. Lastly, it discusses the position of a number of vulnerable groups, in particular, disabled persons, the elderly, and children"--P. [4] of cover.