Evaluation of the Functionality of the Networking of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Services in the Event of Gender-Based Violence in the Commune of Kpomasse in 2022

Introduction: In developing countries, gender-based violence (GBV) is a real public health problem. In Benin, GBV affects the majority of women and girls (69%). Benin has implemented strategies and set up integrated centers for the management of violence in order to reduce cases of violence and ensure the holistic management of victims. The objective of our study was to assess the functionality of the network of sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) in case of GBV in the commune of Kpomasse in 2022. Method: This descriptive and evaluative study was conducted from March 21 to April 11, 2022. The sampling method used was non-probabilistic. Reasoned choice and convenience were the techniques used for the different targets of the study. The functionality of the SRHR service network was assessed first by calculating scores at the structure, process and outcome levels, and then by analysis using the human rights-based approach. Results: Out of the 34 GBV victims identified, only one had received a full response and 54% of the victims had no knowledge of SRHR. The lack of knowledge about health care facilities was 41% for victims and 80% for non-victims in the community who participated in the study. In the case of gender-based violence, the community preferred to settle out of court rather than report it. The functionality of the networking of sexual and reproductive health rights services in the event of the occurrence of gender-based violence in the commune of Kpomassè is insufficient. Lack of knowledge of the roles of rights holders (DD) and duty bearers (DO) explains the insufficient functionality of networking. Conclusion: Training of SRHR service agents and community sensitization are essential to improve the functionality of SRHR service networking in the commune of Kpomasse.

Setting Regional Research Priorities for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Services in Humanitarian Settings

Background: Despite increased recognition of the need for sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings, evidence focusing on mainstreaming reproductive health services such as maternal, neonatal mortality, human immunodeficiency virus transmission and unsafe abortion still remains inadequate. The ability to understand the magnitude of the needs and highlight existing gaps is supported by improved data which is critical to informing effective policies, programming and funding decisions. The purpose of this report is to present the results of a research prioritization exercise on sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings for the WHO Africa region for the next three years. Methods: We adapted the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method in three phases. Experts from the region participated in an online survey to identify key areas for research in sexual and reproductive health and rights. To identify potential areas for research, the experts ensured answerability, effectiveness, deliverability, equity and potential impact of the questions. The research areas they identified were reviewed by World Health Organization technical team from headquarters. In a meeting of 67 participants, the questions were subjected to further review and analysis. Using a modified for scoring criteria, the questions were scored and ranked to provide the top ten priority questions to address sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings. Results: A list of 21 priority research questions on sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings were scored and ranked. Top ten priorities research questions were identified. Those that scored highly by scoring 30 points out of the possible maximum of 30 include: “determining the prevalence and associated factors of unwanted pregnancies and abortions performed in emergency and humanitarian settings”, “evidence on gender-based violence in humanitarian situations and its associated factors” and “defining an optimal model for coordinating sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions and responses in crisis situations”. Conclusions: Top ten research priorities in sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings were identified. The priority research areas have the potential to identify the best areas for programming of services in humanitarian settings. It is our hope that the identified research areas will be prioritized to support programming of services in humanitarian settings based on scientific evidence.

Research Priorities for mHealth and Innovative Strategies in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the WHO Africa Region

Background: The use of mobile phones continues to rise rapidly in the provision of health related services. Many countries have adopted the use of mobiles to provide sexual and reproductive health and rights and especially among the adolescents where specific messages are tailored for various audiences with specific messages. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research priority setting exercise on mHealth and innovative strategies. Methods: We adapted Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative methodology to identify and set research priorities on mHealth and innovative strategies that respond to sexual and reproductive health and rights services. General potential research questions were gathered online from multiple stakeholders in the region and sent for consolidation consolidated to technical experts in World Health Organization headquarters. The second phase involved a meeting with experts to review and thematically analyze the questions list of 33 questions producing a list of 22 research questions. The questions were scored against a six point criteria and ranked accordingly. Ten top priority research questions were identified. Results: Lists of 33 priority research questions for mHealth and innovative strategies were proposed for discussions by 67 stakeholders. The questions were reviewed, scored and ranked in a technical meeting by experts. The highest ranking questions at 87% include evaluation of mHealth for data management and sexual and reproductive health and rights decision making, assessment of innovative local financing techniques to support community based sexual reproductive health and rights and evaluation of the role of mobile technologies in referral and counter referral. Conclusions: Information and communication technology is developing drastically and has a great potential in improving health especially in sexual and reproductive health and rights service delivery. This potential must be demonstrated with more relevant and quality research on mHealth and innovative strategies priorities identified.

The WHO African Region: Research Priorities on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Background: Many policy makers deliberating on comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights services need reliable evidence to make choices that benefit women, adolescents, children and the wider society. While universal health coverage discourse provides an opportunity to expand access through evidence based interventions, many gaps exist. Research prioritization has proved to be very helpful in identifying relevant areas especially in constrained resource settings. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the World Health Organization Africa Region research prioritization for sexual and reproductive health and rights. These priorities hope to guide the region for the next three years. Methods: We used the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative approach to identify priority questions among many potential areas for research prioritization on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The implementation process was organized in three phases. The first phase involved sending out an online survey to various experts with experience in sexual and reproductive health rights. These questions were received by a technical team from World Health Organization headquarters for review. 634 questions were identified for potential research and grouped into 12 themes. The second phase involved experts who reviewed the questions. The team merged questions with duplications, removed the questions that were out of scope and finally refined the wordings. In the final phase, experts worked in groups to score and rank top ten priority questions for each of the 12 thematic areas. Results: A list of 120 priority questions for sexual and reproductive health and rights were prioritized by 67 participants drawn from 16 organizations. Most of the priority research questions (45%) focused on the theme of gender-based violence, 35% prioritized services in sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings while 15% prioritized preventing unsafe abortion. 5% of the participants prioritized cervical cancer prevalence, prevention and treatment as a thematic area out of the questions in the top 20 research priority questions. Conclusions: Key priority research questions in sexual and reproductive health and rights were identified around five themes. The priority list will be of significance to World Health Organization regional Office for Africa and her stakeholders for the next three years.

Development of China's Public Health as an Essential Element of Human Rights

September 2017 Contents Preface Ensuring People’s Right to Health Based on China’s Conditions Continuous Improvement of Health Environment and Conditions Public Health Service Capability Improving Steadily Great Improvement in the Quality of Medical and Health Services Improvement of the National Medical Security System

The National Formation of the Right to Health:Taking Broadcast Gymnastics as an Example

Broadcast gymnastics,which was initiated in 1951,is one of the most widely adopted and popular mass sports activities in China,embodying the country's commitment to shaping the right to health of its citizens.The history and development of broadcast gymnastics are closely tied to the destiny of the nation,reflecting clear national will,and aiming to achieve the goal of“shaping new individuals”.The institutional forms of broadcast gymnastics can be categorized into three stages:“military simulation”,“administrative reinforcement”and“market competition”,each of which aligns with the objectives and needs of different periods.Taking the establishment and promotion of broadcast gymnastics in China as a focal point helps construct a doctrinal framework for the right to health.Based on the purposes and means of health shaping,the implementation of the right to health can be divided into four types:national health projects,citizens'health rights,the social health industry,and civic health consumption.National health projects,facilitated by legislative mechanisms,provide institutional support and supply for citizens'health rights.The right to health,as a social right,has both a subjective rights orientation and an objective value order orientation,thus establishing the individual's subject status in terms of their right to health.Its defense aspect is oriented toward rejecting excessive state intervention,while the benefit aspect directly links to the state's payment measures.The boundaries of state power also need to be defined in the social health industry and civic health consumption.Hence,developing broadcast gymnastics involves adjusting its relationship with the overall objectives of the state and individual citizens'needs.It involves balancing the use of administrative and market methods,continually innovating sports programs that better suit diverse needs,and actively participating in the competition of the fitness market.

For People's Right to Safety Of Lives and Health——On development of health-related human rights in China

Medical and health work constitutes the prerequisite to protection of the people's right to safety of lives and health. Over the past decades, the Chinese Government has spared no effort in this regard and, as a result, the Chinese people's health has significantly improved. In the nationwide fight against the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in the first half of 2003, the Government placed the health of the Chinese people and the safety of their lives above everything else. With a huge input of human, financial and material resources, the country won a decisive victory over the epidemic. Following is the full text of an interview by Human Rights with Gao Qiang, executive vice-minister of the Ministry of Health, on China's medical and health work and how it is related to protection of human rights.

Judicial Typification of Human Rights Protection Amid Climate Risks:Legal Analysis and Path Choice

In accordance with the canonical sources of the right of legal claim,the targets of judicial review,and the intensity of judicial review intervention policies,lawsuits that directly and indirectly activate the function of human rights protection amid climate risks can be divided into the following categories:climate change lawsuits based on international human rights law,climate change lawsuits based on the domestic constitution,and judicial review of administrative procedures.Due to the singularity of the legal status and force of international human rights law,its“direct applicability”and“explanatory applicability”limit its function in protecting human rights;Climate change lawsuits based on domestic constitutions have the identification of basic right of claim,the judgment of basic rights and function,and the scope of state obligations as the judgment process.Factors such as the difficulty in right typification caused by the integration of climate law and interests,the expansion of discretionary and administrative power in legislation under the context of risk prevention,and the functional boundary of the judicial system cause the dysfunction of the dichotomous review standard of positive rights and negative rights.Procedural rights represent an important dimension of climate-related human rights.With the standardization of administrative procedures on addressing climate risks,the courts are gradually reinforcing decision-making authorities’obligation of due diligence through judicial review of risk decision-making procedures,thus indirectly guaranteeing the realization of tangible human rights.

Positivist Typologies of the Right to Health Norms

As the cornerstone of the rule of law in public health,the right to health is an important human right recognized by international covenants of human rights and widely absorbed by foreign constitutions and laws.In international covenants on human rights,the right to health is regarded as a social right,and its core connotation is“the right to the highest attainable standard of health,”which has been recognized by many global and regional human rights conventions.Correspondingly,it has become a norm for this right to be included in constitutions around the world,especially those in the emerging countries that became independent after World War II and is often embodied within the framework of the law.Take China as an example,the right to health in our legal system is included in the Constitution,and has been substantiated in the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Promotion of Basic Medical and Health Care and the Civil Code in the mode of“the same channel protection of public and private laws”.The rule of law and public policy are important means of substantiating the right to health(norms).The right to health in this category is confirmed and shaped by the policybased legal principles such as the principle of human rights protection,the principle of fairness,the principle of non-discrimination and the principle of due process,and covers the welfare policy and the health service system in modern countries.

The Theoretical and Practical Extension of the Right to Health

By reflecting on the dualities al in Western human rights concepts,the right to health presents rich normative connotations in our country,and plays an important role in promoting,compelling and guiding individuals,governments and other participants.The expansion of the human rights movement and the advancement of medical technology since the end of World War II are the underlying reasons why the right to health has flourished in the field of international human rights law.Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,China has gradually formed a relatively complete system of health laws and regulations in its Constitution.Faced with the challenges of COVID-19 prevention and control,China has clarified the value superiority of the right to health in the constitutional norms.At the same time,the concept,value and principles of the right to health are having an increasingly prominent influence on the system of civil law,criminal law,patent law and other departmental laws and regulations.

History and Logical Progression of China's Public Health System——From the Perspective of the Protection of the Right to Health

A public health system generally refers to public utilities oriented toward protecting and improving health. It is intended to protect the health of the general public. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China has constructed the largest healthcare system in the world. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC), stressed that China will improve its public health system. Looking back at the history of China’s public health system from its inception to the reform and development and then improvement, it can be found that its development has always revolved around the theoretical logic of unifying rights and obligations and the practical logic of balancing the protection of the right to health and the regulation of state power. The fundamental goal is to protect the right to health of the people. The increasing health risks in modern society have changed require that efforts be made to construct a crisscrossing legal framework for public health, improve early-warning and emergency response mechanisms for public health emergencies,and integrate the health concept into all policies to further improve the public health system.

Evolution of health law in Turkey

Turkey has always been one of the leading countries in the field of health and fundamental rights.Though Turkey is a member of many international organizations and a candidate state for the European Union,had some regulations on fundamental rights,patients rights and right to health,even before the international papers,such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,did not come into force.Turkey always follows closely to the new developments in health care technologies,that is why Turkey continues to be one of the most chosen countries in international health tourism.These improvements in health care drive Turkey to adjust its regulations related to patients'fundamental rights and right to access to health.In the 2000s,health law postgraduate programs were founded in some universities in Turkey.With these programs,research in health law has been accelerated.Turkey will be one of the leading countries in health law too in the next few years.In this study,we started with the fundamental sources of the right to health in Turkey;then we continued with current objects at issue in Turkish health law;then we gave place to the current problems of Turkish health law such as reproductive rights,problems related to organ and tissue transplantations,increasing numbers of legal cases against health care professionals,their possible solutions and the future expectations.

Reform of Health System for People's Right to Health——An interview with Gao Qiang,Minister of Health

EDITOR＇S NOTE： In an interview given of late to our staff reporter, Gao Qiang, Chinese Minister of Health, spoke on the achievements made by China in medical and health work during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period （2001-2005）, the soaring medical costs that have invoked much public complaint, ways of carrying to depth the reform of the medical service system, development of the rural cooperative medical system and community-based medical services in cities, as well as prevention and control of AIDS. Following is a transcript of the interview.

The Limits of the Intervention of Public Power in Individual Health Choices——From the Perspective of the Realization of the Right to Health in the Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases

Noncommunicable chronic diseases have become the most important public health problem in the world today,so the focus of public health services should be shifted from the traditional area of communicable diseases to the prevention and control of chronic diseases.Since bad living habits are the most direct cause of chronic diseases,the most effective measure to prevent and control chronic diseases is to promote healthy lifestyles for the individual citizen.The theories of equal health opportunity,the right to health from the perspective of human rights,and determinants of a healthy society provide justified reasons for the intervention of public power in individual health choices.In the current legal system,the intervention of public power is limited to flexible measures such as health education,which shows respect for individual autonomy.However,it is inconsistent with the needs of current public health practice.We should expand diversified intervention means to encourage individuals to make healthy choices under the guidance of the management model.The“ladder of intervention”outlines a panoramic view of the intervention measures available.However,for the selection of specific measures,it is necessary to consider the public health objectives and the invasion of individual freedom,introduce the“legal reservation principle”and“proportionality principle”as policy analysis tools,and reasonably choose intervention measures at different levels on the ladder to properly handle the tension between public power and private rights.

Human Rights Protection and Global Action under the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic——Overview of“2021·China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights”

The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest ever infectious disease facing mankind.It challenges national governance capabilities and international patterns.On June 8,2021,the“2021 China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights”was held in Chongqing,China.Its theme was“COVID-19 Pandemic and the Protection of the Right to Life and Health,”which focused on five topics:the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the protection of the rights to life and health,the response of countries against the pandemic,the protection of the right to life and health of specific groups during the pandemic response,the national responsibility for the protection of the right to life and health in the public health crisis,and global cooperation in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.The conference reached two consensuses:First,in the face of the pandemic,countries must take responsibility for the people and protect the people’s right to life and health;second,an effective international mechanism for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic must be established as soon as possible.

Human Rights Protection in Genome Editing

Introducing the human rights perspective into the multi-dimensional governance of human genome editing activities would help define boundaries for the behaviors of stakeholders such as the state, researchers, ethics committee members, and the public, and clarify specific practices of these subjects or entities to meet the requirements of human rights obligations. Based on the human dignity principle, humans must never be used as a means to an end in scientific research. The right to physical and mental health requires the implementation of the principles of informed consent, the primacy of life, and risk control in genome editing, as well as the proper treatment of embryos. The right to privacy corresponds to the confidentiality obligations and non-intervention obligations of relevant parties, and the protection of sensitive personal information points to the special compliance requirements regarding information processing. Differential treatment of genome-edited humans requires objective and reasonable justification, and should also meet the requirements of the proportionality principle.

Human security and sexuality in the IPPF Africa Region

The influence of human security components on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights （SRHR） of individuals was explored in four sub-Saharan Africa countries of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Uganda from November 2008 to April 2009. The present results suggest that the major threat to human security is the competing economic demands that make it difficult for the population to prioritize reproductive health services in their household budgets. This study concludes that there are potential benefits of human security approaches for furthering the goals of SRHR initiatives, in line with the principles and guidelines expressed in the Maputo Plan of Action and the Millennium Development Goals （MDGs）. The results of this study suggest that IPPF Africa Region can start to prioritize economic security, community security and health security which have greatest impact on the reproductive health of the sub-Saharan African population. The key lesson learnt is that the effective use of family planning services mitigates the effects of other human insecurities, including economic, food, and health insecurities as its application in the families will reduce family size and demand on available resources.

Diabetes, Obesity and the Nutrition Transition in the Mercosur

Diabetes and obesity are major health hazards in Latin America nowadays. Their prevalence has steadily increased since the eighties. Today, more than 50% of the population are overweight, 15% has obesity and 6% to 15% has diabetes. The nutrition transition is a long-term process that brings chronic metabolic diseases as an undesired consequence, whilst ultra processed foods become increasingly part of daily food choices. These changes bring impacts in all fields of daily life, especially in the economic and legal fields—the “Right to Health”—and regarding autonomy of the individual and their choices, when confronted with an ideal of health and well-being. Governments and citizens struggle to propose new pathways and find effective solutions to control both epidemics and solve these issues. This article poses the evolution of diabetes and obesity in the Mercosur, seeking a better understanding of these chronic, non-communicable diseases, and looking for concrete, effective solutions towards health in South America.