The Medical Profession and Human Rights: Handbook for a Changing Agenda
BMA, 2001; £18.95
ISBN 1 85649 612 0
Rating: 3/4
Gross violations of human rights
occur in many parts of the world.
The nature of the media ensures
that many of these are brought to our attention. But the need for equality of rights goes
beyond these gross violations. The World
Health Organization declared in 1970 that
"health is a human right." Clearly, doctors
have a role to play in making this a reality.
The BMA's new report on human rights and
the medical profession begins to examine
the implications.
It emphasises that doctors' skills are an
essential early warning system for human
rights abuse. As doctors we will face many
subtle erosions of human rights and are
called on to realise the full potential of our
role in widening debate on these issues. For
example, since the introduction in 2000 of
the Human Rights Act 1998, lawyers and
ethicists began to consider some traditional
ethical issues, such as rationing of health
care within the realms of human rights
debate.
Medical students have played a key part
in highlighting human rights violations. The
report gives credit and attention to the role
of organisations, such as the International
Federation of Medical Students Association
(IFMSA) and its UK arm, the Medical
Students International Network (MedSIN).
It calls for this to continue, as our campaigning will influence future doctors and future
members of national associations.
The report also outlines a commitment
to promoting awareness of international
consensus statements among students, and
ensuring adequate undergraduate training
in the practical ethical dilemmas that we are
likely to face. But it will take more than good
intentions to influence undergraduate curriculums. The successful launch of undergraduate programmes teaching ethics at St
George's and Dundee has been due largely
to student advice and direction. It seems as if
our active effort will perhaps be the most
efficient way of getting the message through
to universities in the short term.
This handbook is a valuable and
comprehensive manual for those interested
in human rights issues. So comprehensive is
it that it is unlikely to make it into your
knapsack for a light read over lunch.
Perhaps medical training should consequently incorporate ways to approach this
completely preventable cause of health
inequality. However, priming the majority of
the next generation of doctors to deal with
this new concept of "subtle erosion" may
well be down to us.
Jason O'Neale Roach, fourth year medical student, Guy's,King's and St Thomas' Hospitals Medical School
studentBMJ 2001;09:217-260 July ISSN 0966-6494
