GUEST COLUMN
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Community Health
Meet Our Featured Guest Columnist: David Sack
David Sack is a former director of the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh.
Q: What does "health and human rights" mean to you?
A: The most fundamental human right is the right to survive and to lead a healthy life, and this is especially true for children who are most vulnerable. It only takes a serious illness in the family to understand how this event takes precedence over all other concerns. It would seem that the true nature of humanity is to assist others who are sick or injured, so it seems strange to have to claim health as a "right." It should be "human nature" rather than a "human right."
A: The most fundamental human right is the right to survive and to lead a healthy life, and this is especially true for children who are most vulnerable. It only takes a serious illness in the family to understand how this event takes precedence over all other concerns. It would seem that the true nature of humanity is to assist others who are sick or injured, so it seems strange to have to claim health as a "right." It should be "human nature" rather than a "human right."
Meet Our Featured Guest Columnist:
Dr. Farag Elkamel
Dr. Farag Elkamel is dean of the school of communication at Ahram Canadian University, Egypt. He specializes in the use of the mass media to promote health messages. In 1983, he launched a television campaign to promote Oral Rehydration Therapy, a treatment for dehydration. The campaign is considered one of the most successful educational projects ever undertaken—during the first four years, the number of children dying from diarrheal diseases more than halved.
Q: What does "health and human rights" mean to you?
A: Women and children are commonly the weakest segments economically and politically, especially in less developed countries. They are at the same time victims for numerous health problems that have several causes, including this exact weakness.
A: Women and children are commonly the weakest segments economically and politically, especially in less developed countries. They are at the same time victims for numerous health problems that have several causes, including this exact weakness.