Advancing Global Health and Human Rights in the Neoliberal Era

In her latest book, Global Health, Human Rights and the Challenge of Neoliberal Policies, distinguished public health and human rights expert Audrey Chapman presents an in-depth examination of the conflicts between neoliberalism, the dominant economic policy framework in the world today, and the international human right to health, an ethical and legal commitment of all members of the United Nations. The book is remarkable for offering both an accessible account and a deep critical analysis of the impacts of current market-based approaches to health care and the social determinants of health. Reflecting a broad and deep knowledge of public health and human rights law and policy, Chapman carefully builds her argument stepby-step, taking the reader from the evolution of the normative framework for the right to health through a sequence of domestic and international policies that directly challenge the realization of this right. Scholars, policy makers, activists, and anyone concerned with public health, human rights, and the well-being of people in the new millennium should read this book. In chapter one, Chapman presents the right to health as “an emergent human right.” By this she means that health and health care have been recognized relatively recently as human rights in domestic and international instruments, that the right to health has gradually been accepted over time as a “legitimate” human right, and that interpretation and conceptualization of the content of the right and the related obligations is progressing steadily. Nonetheless, implementation of the right to health has been challenged in the last three decades by the global dominance of the neoliberal paradigm. This theme of the right to health as an emergent human right confronted by a hostile policy framework backed up by powerful players informs the text from cover to cover. In this light, Chapman reveals the myriad ways that neoliberal economic and social policies favor the wealthy and powerful, while disadvantaging—literally leaving to suffer