The Best News at the Worst of Times

The resolution approved on July 7 by the UN Human Rights Council turns neglected diseases into a human rights issue and marks a turning point for more than one billion people.

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Sometimes a UN resolution goes unnoticed. The one on July 7 should not. It changes the playing field for more than one billion people because, from now on, neglected diseases cease to be just a health issue and also become a human rights concern.

It is not the same to demand political, financial, and medical attention for a forgotten disease as it is to denounce the violation of a fundamental right. That is the difference after July 7.

The news should have reached the speakers of each of the more than one billion affected people in the world by one or more of the 21 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), according to the UN classification. It is a long list that includes diseases such as leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas, etc. Most of these ailments share features of exclusion, stigma, and discrimination, as well as a heavy impact on women and children.

Many of these diseases stopped being exclusively rural or tropical problems a long time ago. Chagas disease is a good example. Migratory movements and other global changes have turned it into a public health challenge also for countries like Spain, where an estimated 80,000 affected people live. In the United States, there are 300,000. Furthermore, it can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, although this transmission is preventable through timely diagnosis and treatment.

A Matter of Human Rights

Since July 7, neglected diseases have become something more: they are a matter of human rights. This means that failing to properly treat these diseases will no longer be just a problem of health or political negligence, but a violation of human rights.

Since July 7, neglected diseases have been a matter of human rights. This means that failing to properly treat these diseases will no longer be just a problem of health or political negligence, but a violation of human rights.

The resolution was promoted by a group of African countries led by Malawi and had the support of dozens of organizations, among which was ISGlobal together with the Global Chagas Coalition.

In the absence of a report detailing what the inclusion of neglected diseases in Human Rights will consist of, we can anticipate an impact on strengthening the advocacy work of groups and associations of affected people. But even before knowing the practical scope of this resolution, something has already changed.

21 Diseases, One Billion People

For those who research, those who train, and those who develop therapeutic and logistical tools against neglected diseases, we are in a new era. They are not only working towards a goal of justice and equity in health, but for an officially recognized human right.

But we should not get carried away by enthusiasm. Because, honestly, who believes that states are trembling at the news right now? Do you think they are calculating the resources and millions in compensation they would have to pay to every person who has not been properly treated for a neglected disease?

It is true that, in legal terms, a public health issue is not the same as a human rights issue. These types of rights are inalienable and belong to each and every person.

In part, the UN resolution changes the names of neglected diseases: They are no longer "helminthiasis, filariasis, yaws, or onchocerciasis". Now their names are Yusuf, Amelia, Ibrahim, Wole, or Chantal.

In part, the UN resolution changes the names of neglected diseases: They are no longer "helminthiasis, filariasis, yaws, or onchocerciasis". Now their names are Yusuf, Amelia, Ibrahim, Wole, or Chantal. Addressing them is not just a public health duty but a right of Yusuf, Amelia, Ibrahim, Wole, or Chantal. A right belonging to each and every one of us.

The Worst Time for Human Rights

This is no time for high hopes. The 1948 Declaration emerged right after a world at war. Once again, we find ourselves in a world at war, with growing funding for the military sector and a fundamental cut in global health aid.

And regarding human rights, one only needs to look at what is happening in Gaza, right before our eyes, as well as in other parts of the world—north, south, east, and west. And violations of these rights are no longer even masked or concealed. At least, not yet.

We are in one of the worst moments for human rights. So, approving the inclusion of neglected diseases as part of them seems more like a poisoned gift.

We are in the "yet" phase, in one of the worst moments for human rights. Thus, the approval of neglected diseases becoming part of them seems more like a poisoned gift from a bankrupt bank choosing an unsuspecting director without informing them of the account statement.

But time passes and the weight of the dead remains. We will see a return to sanity, in that relentless pendular cycle of human beings between violence and common sense. We will read every article of the Human Rights declaration again as if it were the only border in the world.

What matters is that when that day comes, neglected diseases will already be in the articles of the Declaration, where they always belonged, with the eyes and mouths of each of the affected people, but finally cared for. For one morning, for one afternoon, that of July 7, we were not forbidden to dream. "There was evening, and there was morning—the first day."