In international law we (do not) trust: The persistent rejection of economic and social rights as a manifestation of cynicism

Despite a promising start in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, economic and social rights still retain a second-class status in most national jurisdictions. What explains this reticence with which economic and social rights are (still) regarded? This chapter analyses how the sceptical gaze through which states view economic and social rights legitimises (or attempts to legitimise) government failures to provide for those members of their populace who are in most desperate need, and (unsuccessfully) masks the self-interest that pervades most of international law. The chapter commences with a brief introduction and subsequently proceeds in three subsequent parts. Section 2 demonstrates that cynicism was used as a sword to pierce the normative foundations of economic and social rights generally, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights particularly in the early days both before and after its adoption leading to economic and social rights’ lower status in the human rights family; Section 3 posits that cynicism has been relied upon as a shield to offer errant states a defence for not meeting their obligations under both international and national (constitutional) economic and social rights norms; and finally Section 4 argues that a certain amount of cynicism is inherent in the history of economic and social rights and how they advanced through the ages, but more optimistically that a light at the end of the tunnel exists because contemporary developments point to less rather than more cynicism in the area of economic and social rights in today’s world

Translating Socioeconomic Rights From Abstract Paper Rights To Fully Fledged Individual Rights: Lessons From South Africa

The South African Constitutional Court has given effective the economic, social and cultural rights in the South African Constitution by defining the nature of the obligations that they engender. In this respect, both the Constitution and the jurisprudence offer immense lessons to other domestic jurisdictions on the African continent and elsewhere. In spite of this, the approach of the Court still falls behind international jurisprudence in some respects. The most visible shortfall is rejection of the minimum core obligations approach which would obligate the state to provide to everyone a minimum level of goods and services. The Court has instead opted for a reasonableness review approach. However, the failure to give substantive content to the rights has made it impossible to fully interrogate the reasonableness of the means chosen by the state to realize the rights. This article proposes a proportionality test to be used to interrogate the means chosen to realize the rights, which is only effective after giving substantive content to the rights. The article also proposes ways through which the minimum core approach could be used without over burdening the state. The provision of a minimum core should be directed towards those who need it. East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights Vol. 12 (2) 2006: pp. 183-23

Clinical Evaluation of 2 Point-of-Care Lateral Flow Tests for the Diagnosis of Syphilis.

A diagnostic performance study comparing the only Food and Drug Administration-approved, point-of-care (POC) treponemal test (Syphilis Health Check) and the World Health Organization pre-qualified SD Bioline POC treponemal test against a treponemal hemagglutination test (TPHA) and a sequential algorithm of nontreponemal rapid plasma reagin and TPHA found both POC tests had >85% sensitivity compared with the TPHA and >85% sensitivity and >95% specificity compared with the rapid plasma reagin and TPHA standards

Perspectives on male partner notification and treatment for syphilis among antenatal women and their partners in Kampala and Wakiso districts, Uganda

Abstract Background Syphilis screening can be successfully integrated into antenatal clinics, and potentially avert significant morbidity and mortality to unborn infants. A minority of male partners report for testing and treatment, increasing the likelihood of reinfection. We conducted a qualitative study to understand factors influencing male partners to seek treatment after syphilis notification by their pregnant partners. Methods A purposeful sample of 54 adults who participated in the STOP (Syphilis Treatment of Partners) study was stratified by gender (24 women, 30 male partners) and enrolled for in-depth interviews which were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the thematic approach. Results The participants’ median age (IQR) was 32 years (25–44), 87% were married, and 57.4% (31/74) had attained secondary education. Fourteen of 22 (63%) female participants reported that they sometimes experienced domestic violence. Male participant’s knowledge of syphilis and their perception of their valued role as responsible fathers of an unborn baby facilitated return. Female’s fear of partner‘s violence and poor communication between partners, were barriers against delivery of the notification forms to partners and subsequent treatment of partners. For men, fear of injection pain, perceptions of syphilis as a genetic disease and as a woman’s problem, busy work schedules, poor access to good STD services, shared facilities with women in clinics, as well as HIV-related stigma were important barrier factors. Conclusions The return to the clinic for treatment of male partners after partner notification by infected pregnant women, was low due to limited knowledge about syphilis, fear of painful injection, fears of domestic violence, lack of communication skills (individual characteristics) and syphilis disease characteristics such as signs and symptoms. This, combined with health services characteristics such as structural barriers that hinder male partner treatment, low access, low capacity, work/time challenges, inadequate laboratory services and low clinic personnel capacity; threatens efforts to eliminate mother-to-child infection of syphilis. Improved public messaging about syphilis, better services, legal and policy frameworks supporting STD notification and treatment in resource-constrained settings are needed for effective STD control. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02262390., Date Registered October 8 2014

Perspectives on male partner notification and treatment for syphilis among antenatal women and their partners in Kampala and Wakiso districts, Uganda

Abstract Background Syphilis screening can be successfully integrated into antenatal clinics, and potentially avert significant morbidity and mortality to unborn infants. A minority of male partners report for testing and treatment, increasing the likelihood of reinfection. We conducted a qualitative study to understand factors influencing male partners to seek treatment after syphilis notification by their pregnant partners. Methods A purposeful sample of 54 adults who participated in the STOP (Syphilis Treatment of Partners) study was stratified by gender (24 women, 30 male partners) and enrolled for in-depth interviews which were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the thematic approach. Results The participants’ median age (IQR) was 32 years (25–44), 87% were married, and 57.4% (31/74) had attained secondary education. Fourteen of 22 (63%) female participants reported that they sometimes experienced domestic violence. Male participant’s knowledge of syphilis and their perception of their valued role as responsible fathers of an unborn baby facilitated return. Female’s fear of partner‘s violence and poor communication between partners, were barriers against delivery of the notification forms to partners and subsequent treatment of partners. For men, fear of injection pain, perceptions of syphilis as a genetic disease and as a woman’s problem, busy work schedules, poor access to good STD services, shared facilities with women in clinics, as well as HIV-related stigma were important barrier factors. Conclusions The return to the clinic for treatment of male partners after partner notification by infected pregnant women, was low due to limited knowledge about syphilis, fear of painful injection, fears of domestic violence, lack of communication skills (individual characteristics) and syphilis disease characteristics such as signs and symptoms. This, combined with health services characteristics such as structural barriers that hinder male partner treatment, low access, low capacity, work/time challenges, inadequate laboratory services and low clinic personnel capacity; threatens efforts to eliminate mother-to-child infection of syphilis. Improved public messaging about syphilis, better services, legal and policy frameworks supporting STD notification and treatment in resource-constrained settings are needed for effective STD control. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02262390 ., Date Registered October 8 2014

Cynical International Law? Abuse and Circumvention in Public International and European Law

Despite a promising start in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, economic and social rights still retain a second-class status in most national jurisdictions. What explains this reticence with which economic and social rights are (still) regarded? This chapter analyses how the sceptical gaze through which states view economic and social rights legitimises (or attempts to legitimise) government failures to provide for those members of their populace who are in most desperate need, and (unsuccessfully) masks the self-interest that pervades most of international law. The chapter commences with a brief introduction and subsequently proceeds in three subsequent parts. Section 2 demonstrates that cynicism was used as a sword to pierce the normative foundations of economic and social rights generally, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights particularly in the early days both before and after its adoption leading to economic and social rights’ lower status in the human rights family; Section 3 posits that cynicism has been relied upon as a shield to offer errant states a defence for not meeting their obligations under both international and national (constitutional) economic and social rights norms; and finally Section 4 argues that a certain amount of cynicism is inherent in the history of economic and social rights and how they advanced through the ages, but more optimistically that a light at the end of the tunnel exists because contemporary developments point to less rather than more cynicism in the area of economic and social rights in today’s world