The area of 'health and human rights' is a new and emerging field under international and European human rights law and health law. Taking a 'health and human rights approach' means using international, European, and national human rights law in relation to a wide range of health issues, including access to healthcare, health data protection, the quality of pharmaceutical drugs, as well as medical-ethical issues, such as abortion and euthanasia. Human rights law can play an important role in promoting and protecting health, both nationally and internationally. It gives a legal and moral dimension to existing health-related approaches, and, as such, it can enrich other health-related disciplines, including medical law, health law, bio-law, bio-ethics, public health, and social medicine. There is, however, still very little understanding of the various and multiple legal interfaces between 'health' and 'human rights, ' and of the implications of this approach for legal research and practice. To fill this gap. This book examines the legal contents and implications of this new area of the law. Its focus is on Europe, as the European context raises specific questions, not only from a legal and a political perspective, but also in terms of health issues and health outcomes. The book first discusses how European institutions (the Council of Europe and the EU) deal with health and human rights. It addresses a variety of themes and approaches that engage with health and human rights links, including patient rights, reproductive health, and issues surrounding death and dying. Lastly, it discusses the position of a number of vulnerable groups, in particular disabled persons, the elderly, and children. The book's contributors have engaged in a prolific dialogue about the issues involved, and this has resulted in a number of truly interconnected chapters that together give a solid overview of the legal perspectives. Health and Human Rights in Europe creates clarity for those who wish to undertake further study in this area. Further, it will guide practitioners through their health-related cases, while law and policy makers can learn more about the comparative legal dimensions of the health issues that they engage with. *** "Inclusion of legal details about human rights, and extensive referencing, renders this book invaluable for law and policy makers. Public health practitioners will also find this an interesting and informative read with a solid legal foundation." - Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, February 14, 2013, www.hhropenforum.or

'Health and human rights' is an important dimension of international and European human rights and health law. It is multi-disciplinary, engaging scholars and practitioners of public health and medicine, as well as legal scholars and human rights lawyers. Taking a 'health and human rights approach' means applying international, regional and domestic human rights law to a wide range of health-related issues. Human rights law informs other areas of law that engage with health issues, including international and domestic health law, biolaw and bioethics, patients' rights, and environmental law. It brings a new, and often more international, as well as a moral dimension to existing legal analyses of health issues. This is essential in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world, where health concerns are omnipresent and can no longer be addressed solely at a domestic level. This book focuses on the legal interfaces between 'health' and 'human rights', taking both a global as well as a European approach. Globally, there are tremendous challenges when it comes to the protection of collective and individual health. Such challenges include weak (primary) healthcare systems, the spread of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, and the increase of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as well as the health effects of air pollution and climate change. In such settings, human rights can, potentially, play an important role in protecting the rights of vulnerable individuals. It is a compelling framework for assessing these and other questions in the health field, as it couples health-related problems with a legal and moral dimension. The international recognition and definition of the 'right to health' is at the centre of this, but there are many other relevant human rights standards, including the right to life, the right to respect for privacy and family life, and the right to have access to information. International case law in the health field has made its mark when it comes to matters like access to health services, abortion, and inhuman and degrading treatment in health settings. Increasingly, links are being sought between human rights and other international standards protecting health, in particular the standards adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The European context is, to some extent, a region sui generis, not only in terms of health issues and health outcomes, but also from a political and legal perspective. The authoritative case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) of the Council of Europe has increasingly touched upon health-related issues. Health and Human Rights brings together contributions from human rights and health law experts from three different countries in Northern Europe. Together, the chapters give a rich account of the legal and interdisciplinary aspects and perspectives related to 'health and human rights'. This book is of interest to lecturers, students, practitioners and law- and policymakers and offers up-to-date analyses of crucial human rights issues in modern healthcare, practices and regulations in Europe and beyond.