Institutions matter, and institutions of global health governance are increasingly implementing human rights to advance global health. This is the central contention of Human Rights in Global Health: Rights-Based Governance for a Globalising World, a unique and comprehensive survey of global institutions, public health, and the institutional mainstreaming of human rights.The book, published in May 2018, is already a celebrated piece of scholarship. It has been praised in many reviews, and its contribution to the health and human rights field will likely continue for years to come. Indeed, the collection represents an enormous and successfully executed undertaking that makes a significant contribution to the health and human rights field. It presents a snapshot of a moment in history when global health institutions and human rights are under massive pressure. History plays a central role in the volume, contextualizing past struggles, achievements, and lessons learned.The book’s main purpose is to provide an introduction to and assess the relationship of human rights within global health governance. Governance for global health is defined in the book as the provision of “expert policy guidance, financial and technical assistance, normative standards, and accountability mechanisms” (p. 3). Importantly, the book conceives of health broadly and features a range of global institutions—including the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank—that engage not only in health care but also in the underlying determinants of health. This diverse reflection produces an intriguing narrative of the complex institutional experience of global health and human rights.
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