TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond a Moral Obligation
T2 - A Legal Framework for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care and Anesthesia
AU - Chawla, Kashmira S.
AU - Rutkow, Lainie
AU - Garber, Kent
AU - Kushner, Adam L.
AU - Stewart, Barclay T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded in part by Grant R25-TW009345 from the Fogarty International Center, US National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Société Internationale de Chirurgie.
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - Background: Access to quality and timely emergency and essential surgical care and anesthesia (EESCA) is an integral component of the right to health as reinforced by the ratification of the World Health Assembly Resolution 68.15. However, this resolution is merely a guideline and has not been able to bolster the necessary political will to promote EESCA. Our objective was to evaluate international treaties, which carry legal obligations, for EESCA-related text, and develop a human rights-based framework to support EESCA advancement and advocacy. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of all the UN Treaty Collection—Certified True Copies (CTCs) of multilateral treaties database from December 2015 to April 2016. The relevant text was manually searched to abstract and analyze to identify major themes supporting a human rights-based approach to EESCA. Results: Multiple treaties in the UN database addressed EESCA in the areas of human rights, refugees and stateless persons, health, penal matters, and disarmament. A total of 13 treaties containing 23 articles had language that endorsed aspects of EESCA. The three major themes, supported by the phraseology in the treaties, included: (1) equal access to EESCA (eight articles); (2) timely care of injured and those with emergency surgical conditions (eight articles); and (3) protection, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, and social security (seven articles). Conclusions: A number of United Nations multilateral treaties support available and equitable EESCA. These findings can be used to galvanize support and encourage signatory Member States to promote and implement EESCA development initiatives.
AB - Background: Access to quality and timely emergency and essential surgical care and anesthesia (EESCA) is an integral component of the right to health as reinforced by the ratification of the World Health Assembly Resolution 68.15. However, this resolution is merely a guideline and has not been able to bolster the necessary political will to promote EESCA. Our objective was to evaluate international treaties, which carry legal obligations, for EESCA-related text, and develop a human rights-based framework to support EESCA advancement and advocacy. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of all the UN Treaty Collection—Certified True Copies (CTCs) of multilateral treaties database from December 2015 to April 2016. The relevant text was manually searched to abstract and analyze to identify major themes supporting a human rights-based approach to EESCA. Results: Multiple treaties in the UN database addressed EESCA in the areas of human rights, refugees and stateless persons, health, penal matters, and disarmament. A total of 13 treaties containing 23 articles had language that endorsed aspects of EESCA. The three major themes, supported by the phraseology in the treaties, included: (1) equal access to EESCA (eight articles); (2) timely care of injured and those with emergency surgical conditions (eight articles); and (3) protection, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, and social security (seven articles). Conclusions: A number of United Nations multilateral treaties support available and equitable EESCA. These findings can be used to galvanize support and encourage signatory Member States to promote and implement EESCA development initiatives.
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U2 - 10.1007/s00268-016-3866-6
DO - 10.1007/s00268-016-3866-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 28180984
AN - SCOPUS:85011842172
SN - 0364-2313
VL - 41
SP - 1208
EP - 1217
JO - World Journal of Surgery
JF - World Journal of Surgery
IS - 5
ER -