Novel human rights angles to the novel COVID19 pandemic

The COVID19 upheaval on the right to education and the rise in domestic violence were amongst the most evident human rights affections during lockdowns. However, as experts scratch more into the human rights implications of the current pandemic, new angles become progressively evident.

Ever since the spread of COVID19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, the world has been through a lot: from global supply chain disrupted to economic losses in a range of industries. From a people-centred standpoint, the pandemic has also caused a serious impairment to the realization of the most fundamental human rights of people.

The disruptions on the right to education due to the unfortunate unequal access to digital technologies, particularly within developing countries, and the rise in domestic violence were amongst the most commonly reported issues shortly after lockdowns were imposed across nations. However, honing in more into the COVID19 plight, new human rights angles become progressively evident, which may have not been so widely discussed.

Here are four additional ways in which COVID19 has taken its toll on human rights:

1.-Exposure to the Virus

The Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes recently presented a report to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, on the State’s duty to prevent exposure to the virus responsible for COVID19.

In his report, the UN expert highlighted the duty of a State, under international law, to prevent and minimize exposure to hazardous substances, including SARS-CoV-2. A State’s duty to protect the human right to life, dignity and health is enshrined in the most authoritative instruments of international human rights law. In this framework, the duty to prevent exposure requires that States develop and invest in preparedness plans and public outreach campaigns to provide an effective and timely response to public health emergencies.

The UN expert has lamented about “the handful of States whose leaders have completely shunned their human rights obligations to prevent exposure to the novel coronavirus at the earliest stages (…) by enabling its rapid spread within and outside national borders.” He also pointed out that some world leaders have ignored the risks associated with the entry of the virus into their societies by calling it “a little flu”, rejecting scientific recommendations, and even promoting herd immunity solutions, which implies the most vulnerable would be sentenced to death.

In this line, the State’s duty to prevent exposure to zoonotic diseases, such as coronaviruses, should have started at the protection of the environment, before the present pandemic, by halting the destruction of natural habitats and deforestation.

2.- The underlying health condition, the most vulnerable’s reality.

According to the World Health Organization, people of any age with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID19. In addition, the United Nations Human Rights Office reported that those populations living in an unhealthy environment with high levels of air pollution are more at risk of developing underlying health conditions and respiratory problems.

The issues of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and global inequality have also exacerbated the emergence of underlying health conditions in certain populations, increasing their vulnerability to COVID19. Studies suggest that low-income populations, marginalized communities, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, migrants and older persons, are more likely to develop underlying health conditions and are disproportionally affected by the pandemic.

The inhalation of asbestos can lead to damaging respiratory diseases. The permanent exposure to toxic chemicals such as plastics and pesticides in food, water, and consumer products, can increase the risks of progressing into non-communicable diseases. Adding to that, systemic racism in some countries further perpetuates the plight of marginalized communities living and working in conditions that pose a danger to their health.

States must adopt policies to prevent non-communicable diseases resulting from unhealthy environments and workplaces, as they only exacerbate the risks of exposure to new viruses.

3.- Universal Health Care

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes Universal Health Coverage as a system in which all people have access to health services when and where needed, without financial hardship. The UN health agency defined a five-year strategy in 2019, to promote one billion more people to benefit from universal health coverage, mostly based on the 2030 Agenda SDGs’ indicator 3.8.:

· “Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”

Both the WHO billion targets and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were built upon a people-centred approach, seeking to realize the human rights of all and leave no one behind.

The 2016 report A/71/304 of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health focuses on the mutually reinforcing complementarities between the SDGs and the right to health. The UN expert underscores that the right to health is a legally binding obligation on States and that a rights-based universal health coverage strategy should include the role of the private sector, international financial institutions, and a consideration of the most vulnerable subgroups.

Unfortunately, the COVID19 pandemic has demonstrated the fragility and unpreparedness of health care systems around the world, mostly attributed to funding cuts and privatization. The collapse of hospitals was a result of clusters of cases caused by a weak tracing capacity. According to UN experts, in States without universal health care, marginalized and vulnerable groups faced disproportionate barriers in access to healthcare services. For example, migrants in many countries have yielded the highest levels of contagions and deaths from COVID19, due to their lack of access to health care.

4.- Occupational safety at the private and public sector.

States have the obligation to prevent human right abuses by private actors as well as to protect all workers’ rights while ensuring a safe working environment. Moreover, all workers, regardless of the industry they work at, have the right to retrieve themselves from risky situations.

However, during the COVID19 pandemic, some industries and businesses around the world did not conduct preventive mechanisms to protect their workers from exposure to the virus. In many places, the spread of the infection was caused mainly among workers.

Medical workers and essential services’ workers, at private and public institutions, continued working during lockdowns, in some cases without adequate personal protective equipment and feeling forced to work in unsafe conditions out of fear of losing their jobs.

The overall impact on universal human rights in the post-COVID19 period remains unclear. The more the situation evolves, the more material there is for analysing new human rights affections. However, while we continue to live the midst of COVID19, we can contribute by raising awareness on the previous mishandling, to advocate for more effective human rights mainstreaming strategies, at the current public health emergency, and future ones.

This article post was originaly published on Medium.com, on 10 October 2020. The original post can be found here.