HHR Journal

News to 24 April 2026 Stay up-to-date: join our email list now Humanity under attack from global anti-rights movements Amnesty International is calling on states to reject the backslide on human rights identified in its latest annual report, The…

News to 17 April 2026 Stay up-to-date: join our email list now WHO convenes first global forum of leading institutions The first Global Forum of Collaborating Centres brought together over 800 institutions from 80 countries to discuss global…

Michelle Wazan, Tatyana Sleiman, Dima El Hajj, and Ramzi Haddad Abstract In Lebanon, the criminalization of drug use and the misapplication of ministerial directives have led hospitals to report overdose cases to law enforcement, deterring people…

VIEWPOINT, 16 April 2026 Mira Younes, Samirah Jarrar, Sahar Saeidnia, Malak Makki, and Nizar Hariri On March 13, 2026, amid Israeli preparations for a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, an airstrike killed two paramedics at a health facility in…

News to 10 April 2026 Stay up-to-date: join our email list now Human Rights health groups demand an end to all fighting Physicians for Human Rights, Physicians for Social Responsibility, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear…

VIEWPOINT 15 April 2026 Felipe Agudelo-Hernández and Javier Díaz-Amaya When a conflict-affected adolescent appears before a juvenile judge in Colombia, the hearing often comes at the end of a much longer trajectory of harm. Many adolescents…

VIEWPOINT 9 April 2026 Richard Pearshouse Air pollution rarely appears on death certificates. With a notable exception from a London coroner’s report following the death of a nine-year-old girl in 2013, individual deaths are not typically…

News to 3 April 2026 Stay up-to-date: join our email list now World Health Day: Stand with science on 7 April World Health Day 2026, 7 April, calls on people everywhere to stand with science. Under the theme “Together for health. Stand with…

Tonia Frame, Fred Nunes, and Dana Repka In Grenada, as across much of the English‑speaking Caribbean, many adolescents begin navigating sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs well before adulthood, often in contexts shaped by stigma and limited…

Sex testing all women athletes is a discriminatory rights violation Kyle Knight and Alex Müller The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced last week that they are going to genetically sex test all women athletes. The newly announced policy follows a secret process the IOC initiated last year, ostensibly to “protect the female category.” Sex testing has a sordid history of use by sporting…

Health and Human Rights News News to 27 March 2026 Global supply chain disruption hardest on the world’s poorest people The consequences of war in the Middle East are only just beginning to unfold, said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk, adding that Iran’s strikes on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will have a severe toll if conflict is not quickly brought to an end. “Fossil fuels, medicine, foo…

Light Pollution, Inequitable Health Impacts, and Human Rights Krishraj Singh Sikarwar and Princy Singh Sikarwar Global night sky brightness increased by nearly 10% every year between 2011 and 2022, which is more than an astronomical inconvenience. Artificial light at night (ALAN) also has an adverse effect on human health and ecology yet it is barely regulated, almost entirely invisible in public…

Proposed Legislation Removes Right to Self Identify One's Gender in India Tejas Sateesha Hinder India’s Transgender Rights Bill, 2026 proposes to replace “self-perceived gender identity” with a system of state certification which marks a shift in how the law understands identity itself, moving from recognition based on autonomy to recognition contingent on bureaucratic approval. For the past deca…

Health and Human Rights News News to 20 March 2026 War in the Middle East is pushing the world toward a precipice UN experts are calling for the end of US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon, which are “illegal under international law.” The experts added that while Iran has the right to self-defence, retaliatory strikes against civilian targets—including desalination infrastructure and reside…

Health and Human Rights News News to 13 March 2026 Calls to protect health care as Middle East conflict spirals… As war between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues, Physicians for Human Rights is raising the alarm about the dangerous disregard for the protection of medical workers and facilities during conflict. “What is essential now is unimpeded access to health care for all, full pro…

Clear Dissemination of Scientific Findings is Needed to Rebuild Trust Letter to the Editor, 12 March 2026 Natalie Kate C. Ramirez The viewpoint by Joseph J. Amon, “Politicized Science and Attacks on Public Health,” highlights a pressing concern regarding the growing politicization of scientific discourse and its implications for public health systems.[1] The Viewpoint raises important questions a…

Health and Human Rights News News to 6 March 2026 Stand up for Science – US day of action 7 March One year after the movement-defining Stand Up For Science protest, organizers are returning to streets across the United States on Saturday March 7 “to save science, protect health, and defend democracy!” Civilians will pay the ultimate price in Iran conflict UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk immedia…

Intentions to Care, Structures That Restrain: The Reality of Secure Units in Residential Social Care Institutions in Slovenia Juš Škraban and Andraž Kapus Abstract Despite ongoing criticism, the practice of involuntary admissions to locked units remains widespread globally. In this paper, we focus on secure units within residential social care institutions in Slovenia, which are intended to provi…

Health and Human Rights News News to 27 February 2026 HHR: Best Paper 2025 focuses on mental health Lisa Cosgrove’s paper, Addressing the Global Mental Health Crisis: How a Human Rights Approach Can Help End the Search for Pharmaceutical Magic Bullets, has been awarded the Health and Human Rights Best Paper 2025. Published in the special section on Institutional Corruption and human rights in men…

Sameena Azhar, Atmaja Acharya, Imtyaz Ahmad, Muhammad Arshid, Md. Saimum Islam, and Dania Malik Abstract In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, religious leaders play a significant role in shaping public attitudes toward khwaja sira, people who identify…