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See also the following sections of this website:

• Health issues (including workplace health & safety)
• Access to life-saving medicines (including AIDS medicines)
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Biotechnology companies
• Medical equipment companies

International standards and guidelines:

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

United Nations Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1982)

The right to the highest attainable standard of health: General comment 14 (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2000)

• {···español: El derecho al disfrute del más alto nivel posible de salud: CESCR Observación general 14}

• {···français: Le droit au meilleur état de santé susceptible d'être atteint: CESCR Observation générale 14} 

International Council of Nurses - selected guidelines:

• Nurses and Human Rights  

• {···español: Las enfermeras y los derechos humanos}

• {···français: Les infirmières et les droits de l'homme} 

Torture, Death Penalty and Participation by Nurses in Executions  

• {···español: La tortura, la pena de muerte y la participación de la enfermera en las ejecuciones}

• {···français: La torture, la peine capitale et la participation des infirmières aux exécutions} 

World Medical Association - selected guidelines:

• World Medical Association Declaration Concerning Support for Medical Doctors Refusing to Participate in, or to Condone, the Use of Torture or Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

• World Medical Association International Code of Medical Ethics

• World Medical Association Proposal for a United Nations Rapporteur on the Independence and Integrity of Health Professionals

• World Medical Association Resolution on Human Rights

• World Medical Association Resolution on Physician Participation in Capital Punishment

• World Medical Association Statement on Pollution

Statements by business people about human rights and business:

Sune Skadegård Thorsen, Senior Advisor, Ethics & Social Affairs, Novo Group (Denmark)

Websites:

Amnesty International documents on Medical Issues (Amnesty International)

• {···español: Informes: Profesionales de la salud}

• {···français: Documents sur le secteur médical} 

Amnesty International Health Professionals Network Online

Bioethics and Human Rights Links (University of Minnesota Human Rights Library)

Center for Bioethics (University of Pennsylvania)

Company Policies for EEO [Equal Employment Opportunities] in Health Services (International Labour Organization)

Genetic Engineering (Greenpeace)

Health Action International

Health and Human Rights: An International Journal (published by François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health)

Health and Human Rights Database (Boston University School of Public Health)

Health Care Without Harm: The Campaign for Environmentally Responsible Health Care

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment

Medecins sans frontieres

Mercury-Free Dentists: A Campaign of RiverSides Stewardship Alliance (Canada)

Physicians for Human Rights - Israel

Physicians for Human Rights - UK

Physicians for Human Rights - USA

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Reducing Mercury - Binational Toxics Strategy (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency & Environment Canada)

World Medical Association

Other materials:

2003:

Nursing Homes to Get Safety Guidelines [USA] - Nursing homes are the first industry to get government guidelines that suggest ways to reduce workplace injuries, replacing the legal requirements Congress rolled back two years ago after businesses complained they were too burdensome and costly. (Leigh Strope, AP, 13 Mar. 2003)

• “Caregivers hope the guidelines will be followed, but hope is all they can do.” [USA] - OSHA's new ergonomics guidelines recommend that employers take action to prevent injuries that affect thousands of nursing home workers and residents each year. But the voluntary guidelines will not do enough to protect workers and residents from injury. Nursing home work is so crippling that safety guidelines need to be mandatory - not voluntary. (Service Employees International Union, 13 Mar. 2003)

Lawsuits target drug pricing: Companies' discounts to doctors under scrutiny - New York state filed a lawsuit against two major pharmaceutical companies Thursday in a case that accuses them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies' drugs over competing medicines...The lawsuits charge that the companies - GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pharmacia Corp. - gave discounts to doctors and pharmacies that bought their drugs. A third drugmaker, Aventis, has been notified that it may also be sued...Regulators are also concerned that cancer doctors may have a financial incentive to recommend inappropriate or unnecessary chemotherapy because they are able to profit from prescribing particular drugs. (Reed Abelson and Jonathan D. Glater, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb. 2003)

2002:

Baxter First to Join Hospital Waste-Reduction Program - Health care giant Baxter Healthcare Corp. has become the first medical supplier to be deemed a "Champion for Change" in the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment program, a landmark initiative to improve environmental performance in health care...Hospitals for a Healthy Environment is a joint effort by the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm. (GreenBiz.com, 27 Sep. 2002)

Experts mull global pact to cut mercury use - Scientists from around the globe began a week-long conference yesterday aimed at shaping a programme to cut back the use of mercury - a toxic substance which poisons and cripples hundreds of people annually...Widely used for decades in lamps, batteries and electrical equipment because it is an excellent conductor of heat, as well as in thermometers and dental fillings, it can cause permanent damage to the brain, nervous system and kidneys. UNEP says it has also been used in some pesticides and pharmaceuticals, as well as in some skin-lightening creams. (Reuters, 10 Sep. 2002)

• MERCURY: UNEP Discusses Reducing Emissions Impact (UN Wire, 9 Sep. 2002)

Nursing home fires employee for speaking Spanish on the job [USA] -...Courts have issued mixed rulings about the legality of such rules. (Associated Press, 20 Aug. 2002)

Labor Officials Charge Nursing Home [USA] - A nursing home that accused union organizers of using voodoo to frighten its Haitian-American employees into joining has been accused by federal officials of mistreating workers. The National Labor Relations Board said last month it found evidence of spying on workers, threats and unfair dismissals at Mount Sinai-St. Francis Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Miami (Associated Press, 8 Aug. 2002)

{···español} México saturado de desechos tóxicos - México está saturado de residuos tóxicos que amenazan la salud de millones de personas y, aunque el problema se agrava, no existen planes para enfrentarlo...Pero existen otras sustancias aún más peligrosas desechadas por la industria eléctrica y petrolera, así como por los hospitales y centros de salud (Diego Cevallos, Inter Press Service, 2 agosto 2002)

Doctors criticised over drug company payments [UK] - Doctors have been criticised for not admitting they receive payments for recruiting patients to clinical trials. (BBC News, 5 July 2002)

'Control migration of health workers' - [South Africa's] Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministers of Health in Geneva yesterday the recruitment of health workers from developing countries must be controlled by bilateral agreements between such countries and developed nations. (SAPA, in Dispatch [South Africa], 13 May 2002)

Leadership Example: Novo Nordisk: Integrating CSR Into Business Operations - Novo Nordisk [pharmaceutical company based in Denmark] is dedicated to the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to sustainability - balancing social and environmental responsibility with economic viability. Their approach began with addressing environmental issues; bioethics, human rights and access to health care in developing countries followed in succession. (BSR Magazine, Business for Social Responsibility, May 2002) 

PRIVATE SECTOR: Researchers Say Quality Care Sacrificed For Profit - The quality of drugs, advice and care sold through the huge, mostly unregulated, private health sector in poor countries is often dangerously low, according to an article in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. (UN Wire, 24 Apr. 2002)

• What can be done about the private health sector in low-income countries? (Anne Mills, Ruairi Brugha, Kara Hanson, & Barbara McPake, in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Vol. 80, No. 4, Apr. 2002)

Employers must assess workplace risks to pregnant women, EAT rules [UK] - The failure of a nursing home to carry out an assessment of the risk posed by working conditions for new or expectant mothers was sex discrimination, according to a recent decision made by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. (Equal Opportunities Commission [UK], 15 Apr. 2002)

Hospitals Show a Healthy Return on Environmental Innovations [USA]: Hospitals across the country were honored today for outstanding environmental performance at the first annual awards ceremony of Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), a joint program of the American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, Health Care Without Harm and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (GreenBiz.com, 8 Apr. 2002)

Parents of autistic kids sue drug firms, dental groups [USA]: The parents of a group of children with autism this week sued several drug companies and dental associations in the United States for allegedly exposing their kids to the neurological disorder in vaccines and dental fillings containing mercury. The American Dental Association, Georgia Dental Association and drug firms American Home Products Corp., now known as Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Johnson & Johnson and Armour Pharmaceutical were accused of, among other things, negligence in 11 lawsuits filed in an Atlanta court. (Paul Simao, Reuters, 5 Apr. 2002)

Home care workers back campaign against exploited clothing workers [Australia]: More than 4000 NSW [New South Wales] Home Care workers have shown their support for the international anti-sweatshop campaign by winning an agreement from their employer that all their uniforms will now carry the Fair Wear label. (Liquor, Hospitality & Miscellaneous Workers Union [Australia], 11 Jan. 2002)

Phase-out of Mercury Thermometers Continues to Rise: In response to shareowner action campaign, most large pharmacy chains are voluntarily phasing out mercury thermometers. The campaign is now turning to the health care industry. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 10 Jan. 2002) 

2001:

Globalisation and Corporate Social Responsibility: Growing challenges for the healthcare sector - In rich and poor countries affordable access to health and medicines is a high profile challenge placing unfamiliar demands on businesses...Changing public and institutional investor expectations of healthcare business behaviour are now a 'business risk' (Robert Davies, Chief Executive, Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, 16 Nov. 2001)

NURSING: WHO Conference To Address Efforts To Stem Global Shortage - In an attempt to address the global shortage of nurses and midwives, the World Health Organization is hosting the first international conference to deal with the problem this week in Atlanta. The conference, which opened yesterday and will run until Friday, will look at issues such as pay, hazardous working conditions, lack of career development, professional status and autonomy, cited as reasons for the deficit in nurses. (UN Wire, 16 Oct. 2001)

Molecules of death: ...Dioxins are among the deadliest chemicals known to humans...Dioxins are released mostly from burning of chlorinated compounds e.g, from garbage, medical waste and toxic chemicals. Dioxins from incinerators contaminate the air, water and food passing these deadly pollutants on to people through milk, meat and other fatty animal products. Bleaching of paper with chlorinated compounds, production of pvc plastics, chlorinated pesticides and secondary smeltering of copper also produce dioxins. Essentially, to produce dioxin we need organic matter, chlorine and a reactive thermal environment...Despite knowing their carcinogenic nature, there is no monitoring of these chemicals in most countries. (Centre for Science and Environment, Down to Earth, 31 Aug. 2001)

Can the Public and Private Sectors Work Together to Improve Health? Partnerships between the public sector and private enterprise can bring wide benefit in terms of improved health, but there must be safeguards to make sure that their prime focus is healthier populations rather than richer companies. This is the conclusion of a series of articles in this month's Bulletin of the World Health Organization which assesses the controversial issue of public–private partnerships for drugs and vaccines. (World Health Organization, 20 Aug. 2001) 

• {···français: La collaboration entre les secteurs public et privé pourrait-elle permettre d'améliorer la santé?}

• full issue of the Bulletin: Special Theme: Public–Private Partnerships for Drugs and Vaccines (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 79, no. 8, Aug. 2001)

EEOC settles racial harassment suit with St. Louis nursing home for $1.2 million: At a press conference today, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement of almost $1.2 million for nine individuals in a racial harassment lawsuit against Beverly Enterprises, Inc., which operates several nursing homes in the St. Louis area. The settlement, which still requires approval of the federal district court here, also requires substantial injunctive relief, including training, monitoring, and disciplinary action against a Beverly human resources employee.  (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2 July 2001) 

Taking on Toxics II: Health Care Without Harm (Charlie Cray, Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2001)

Florida doctors charge racial discrimination by Humana after being dropped from panel (Cheryl Jackson, amednews.com, 1-8 Jan. 2001)

2000:

Medical and Psychosocial Services for Victims of Human Rights Violations (Amnesty International, 23 Nov. 2000)

Unfair Advantage: Workers' Freedom of Association in the United States under International Human Rights Standards (Human Rights Watch, Aug. 2000)

Harming the Healers: Violations of the human rights of health professionals (Amnesty International, 21 July 2000)

1999:

Globalization and Health (Dr. Nils Daulaire, Global Health Council, 12 July 1999)

Physicians and the Ethic of Human Rights (Leonard S. Rubenstein, Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights, in Minnesota Medicine, July 1999)