Today, the International working group for patient´s right to nutritional care (IHRWG) joins the international celebration of Human Rights. The Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10th — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to 'Equality' and Article 1 of the UDHR –
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
The principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the heart of human rights. Equality means people having equal opportunities and being treated no less favorably than other people on the grounds of sex, gender, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, or any other status. These principles are also central to the practice of clinical nutrition. All governments and health care providers should promote equality and non-discrimination in their day-to-day work by providing the same quality of nutritional care for all. Everyone must always presume that a patient has the capacity to participate in decisions on their nutrition care plan. Judging a person’s decision-making ability should never be based on sex, gender, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion.
On International Human Rights Day, we take a moment to express the need to put the human rights-based approach at the heart of clinical nutrition practice. We express our gratitude to those who strive day to day to provide food and nutritional therapy to all patients and guarantee the respect of patient´s dignity. We continue to call for greater nutritional access for all malnourished and at-risk patients.
For more information contact:
December 10th video:
Clinical nutrition and human rights. An international position paper: