[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Former United Nations Food and Agriculture liaison told a
group of University of Wisconsin students and faculty Wednesday the nation has
an obligation to provide health care to poor nations to protect their basic
human rights.

As the keynote speaker to kick off the Global Health
Symposium, current managing director of the UW Human Rights Initiative Florence
Chenoweth said the right to health is the most basic human right in her
presentation titled ?Health Care and Human Rights: The World Cannot Wait.?

She added health and human rights are inexorably linked
because it is health policies that help protect those rights.

According to Chenoweth, the right to health ?does not mean
the right to be healthy,? but means governments are responsible for putting
into place laws that lead to access to health care.

She said the main problem with global health is hunger,
adding ?it is shameful? so many people are dying of hunger in a world that has
enough resources to feed everyone.

?Poverty is the element that affects public health more than
anything else,? Chenoweth said. ?Poverty is the world?s No. 1 health problem.?

Chenoweth went on to say 1.2 billion people around the world
still live on less than $1 per day, and those in poor countries are dying from
diseases that have vaccines. Many people lack access to safe drinking water.

Chenoweth applauded UW?s efforts to improve health care
around the world through the Center for Global Health, saying the program is
very unique because of its comprehensive nature that focuses on collaboration
between health care disciplines.

?We can make this a global public university,? Chenoweth
said.

She added the United States causes a lot of problems in poor
countries, but citizens ?must remain positive? because there is a ?social
movement going on? among large organizations like the World Bank. She said
large nations are now realizing their responsibility to aid the poorer nations.

First year UW medical school student Rebecca McSorley said
it is oversimplified to say these health problems are solely the problems of
medical or health care professionals. However, she added, health is the key to
improving the lives of citizens in poor countries and ensuring their human
rights.

?It?s so essential that it?s never mentioned in basic human
rights because it?s assumed,? McSorley said.

UW medical student Emily Yu said she believes it is
important for everyone that health care is available to all those who need it.
She added UW should do what it can to help the situation since the public
university should ?have the public interest at heart.?

?It takes the will to want to get to the root of the problem
and deal with it,? Chenoweth said. ?We have to be creative in finding a way to
make this possible.?