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Article: Minority Rights
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MINORITY RIGHTS
Modern concepts of public health recognize health "not merely as the absence of disease or infirmity," as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), but "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being" (1978). Modern public health theory further recognizes this broad characterization of health as a fundamental human right and the attainment of the highest possible level of health as an important worldwide social goal. Thus, there is an enlightened understanding that societal factors, such as the denial of human rights, clearly affect the health status of populations.
As far back as the fourth century b.c.e., Aristotle expressed this connection among ...