The
Human Rights
Implementation Project
Global rights, local rights, human rights
Northwest Healthcare and Human Rights Program
The human right to health
Seattle's Measure on the right to healthcare
Tacoma's Resolution on the right to healthcare
In 2005, voters in the city of Seattle, Washington passed a measure calling on the city to recognize a right to health care for all. In 2007, the neighboring city of Tacoma passed a resolution supporting the right of access and availability to high-quality, appropriate health care for all.
HRIP's goal in the Northwest Healthcare and Human Rights Program is to have Seattle and Tacoma use the standards set out by the international human right to health to implement their respective voter mandates.
To that end, we encourage (1) the participation of vulnerable populations affected by healthcare policy changes in the planning of those policy changes, (2) the explicit incorporation of human rights standards into policy goals, and (3) access to primary health services for all populations in the region.