Ensuring that health policies uphold core concepts of human rights and are inclusive of vulnerable groups are imperative aspects of providing equity in health care, and of realizing the United Nations’ call for Health for All. We outline the process of extensive consultation undertaken across countries and stakeholders culminating in the development of EquiFrame, in conjunction with its associa...

While many health services strive to be equitable, accessible and inclusive, peoples' right to health often goes unrealized, particularly among vulnerable groups. The extent to which health policies explicitly seek to achieve such goals sets the policy context in which services are delivered and evaluated. An analytical framework was developed--EquiFrame--to evaluate 1) the extent to which 21 C...

the application of equiframe in the analysis of sexual and reproductive health policies by ivanova et al to a new thematic area, their selection of only some of the core concepts of human rights in health service provision and the addition of new vulnerable groups relevant to the purpose of their analysis, are all very welcome developments. we also applaud their application of equiframe to poli...

BACKGROUND One of the most crucial steps towards delivering judicious and comprehensive mental health care is the formulation of a policy and plan that will navigate mental health systems. For policy-makers, the challenges of a high-quality mental health system are considerable: the provision of mental health services to all who need them, in an equitable way, in a mode that promotes human righ...

ivanova et al explored how vulnerable groups and principles of human rights are incorporated into national sexual and reproductive health (srh) policies in 4 countries. they adapted the equiframe of amin and colleagues of 2011, to srh vulnerable groups which we believe could now be used for analysis of national srh polices beyond those 4 countries. although we fully agree with the authors’ two ...

Background Equity and social inclusion for vulnerable groups in policy development processes and resulting documents remain a challenge globally. Most often, the marginalization of vulnerable groups is overlooked in both the planning and practice of health service delivery. Such marginalization may occur because authorities deem the targeting of those who already have better access to healthcar...

BACKGROUND Health policies are important instruments for improving population health. However, experience suggests that policies designed for the whole population do not always benefit the most vulnerable. Participation of vulnerable groups in the policy-making process provides an opportunity for them to influence decisions related to their health, and also to exercise their rights. This paper ...

BACKGROUND If access to equitable health care is to be achieved for all, policy documents must mention and address in some detail different needs of groups vulnerable to not accessing such health care. If these needs are not addressed in the policy documents, there is little chance that they will be addressed at the stage of implementation. OBJECTIVES This paper reports on an analysis of 11 A...

Abstract Purpose This study assesses the inclusion of disability in Nepal’s policy and guidance relevant to water, sanitation hygiene (WASH), menstrual management (MHM) comparison gender. We investigated both formulation implementation, using Kavrepalanchok district as a case study. Materials methods used EquiFrame framework, adapted for gender, focusing on WASH MHM. Ten Nepali policies documen...