Taking Equality Seriously: Applying Human Rights Frameworks to Priority Setting in Health

In: Human rights quarterly, Band 36, Heft 2, S. 296-324

Abstract

Health systems communicate and enforce norms relating to equality in many ways, including the ways in which priorities are set at micro and macro levels of decision making. This article examines three common forms of priority setting and how rights-based conceptions of equality may influence them. The relevance of human rights to these processes has grown especially urgent due to the increasing attention that the World Health Organization is placing upon achieving universal health coverage and due to discussion of the post 2015 development agenda.