Right to health
There is theideathat everyone has the right to a minimum standard ofhealth.Some people have called thisright to health.They said it is aneconomic, social, and cultural right.There are several international agreements which have included this idea. Some of these agreemenrs are theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights,International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,and theConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.There are still some discussions, as people do not fully agree on things like the exact definition of health. They also do not agree about what a minimum standard of health should be, and who should be responsible to ensure this right to health.
The Human RightsMeasurementInitiative[1]measures the right to health for countries around the world, based on their level of income.[2]
Definition[change|change source]
There are different definitions of what health is:
- Thepreambleof theconsitutionof theWorld Health Organisationdefines it as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."[3]It says that the right to health is fullfilled, when the person enjoys the highest attainable standard of health. It also lists some examples, such as healthychild development,spreading medical knowledge among all people in the population, and a government providing social measures to provide adequate health.
- TheUniversal Declaration of Human Rightsstates that "Everyone has theright to a standard of livingadequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessarysocial services."The declaration also talks about some extras, such as security in case ofdisability,and makes special mention of care given to those inmotherhoodorchildhood.[4]
References[change|change source]
- ↑"Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries".humanrightsmeasurement.org.Retrieved2022-03-09.
- ↑"Right to health - HRMI Rights Tracker".rightstracker.org.Retrieved2022-03-09.
- ↑Constitution of the World Health Organization(PDF).Geneva: World Health Organization. 1948.Archived(PDF)from the original on 21 March 2014.Retrieved14 October2013.
- ↑Universal Declaration of Human Rights,United Nations, 1948,archivedfrom the original on 3 July 2017,retrieved29 June2017
Related pages[change|change source]
Other websites[change|change source]
- Joint Fact Sheet WHO/OHCHR/323
- The Right to Health cartoon
- Right to health on the Children's Rights Portal
- General Comment No. 14. The right to the highest attainable standard of healthCESCR, 2000
- The right to health and the European Social CharterSecretariat of ESC, 2009
- The Right to Health: Fact Sheet No. 31WHO and UN HCHR
- 25 Questions & Answers on Health and Human Rights,WHO
Bibliography[change|change source]
- Andrew Clapham, Mary Robinson (eds), Realizing the Right to Health, Zurich: rüffer & rub, 2009.
- Bogumil Terminski, Selected Bibliography on Human Right to Health, Geneva: University of Geneva, 2013.
- Judith Paula Asher, The Right to Health: A Resource Manual for Ngos, Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010. I