Abstract
The UK's response to COVID-19 has been widely criticized by scientists and the public. According to EuroMOMO, a European mortality monitoring initiative, the excess mortality that may be attributable to COVID-19 in England is one of the highest in Europe, second only to Spain. While critiqued from a public health perspective, much less attention is given to the implications of the pandemic outbreak for the right to health as defined under international human rights law and ratified by member states. Using the UK as a case study, we examine critically the extent to which the government's response to COVID-19 complied with the legal framework of the right to health. We review further key states' obligations on the right to health and assess its suitability in times of pandemic. Finally, we offer some recommendations for an update of the right to health. This paper adds to the body of literature on the right to health and human rights based-approaches to health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 227-242 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Health and Human Rights Journal |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Dec 2020 |
Structured keywords
- Covid19
- LAW Centre for Health Law and Society
- LAW Human Rights Implementation Centre
Keywords
- COVID-19/mortality
- Disease Outbreaks
- Europe
- Health Personnel
- Human Rights/legislation & jurisprudence
- Humans
- Organizational Case Studies
- Public Health
- Right to Health
- SARS-CoV-2
- United Kingdom
- Vulnerable Populations
Access to Document
- Full-text PDF (final published version)
This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via Harvard University Press at https://www.hhrjournal.org/2020/11/the-right-to-health-in-times-of-pandemic-what-can-we-learn-from-the-uks-response-to-the-covid-19-outbreak/ . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.