Right to Health

The Universal Declaration as a Foundation

The principles laid out in Article 1 and Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have laid a strong foundation from which to build. Following are some of the institutional tools that build on that foundation, protecting our right to health.

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1966)

The convention reaffirms the universal protection of the right to adequate health and proscribes deprivation or rights based upon race.

Consider Article 5, which affirms, regardless of race, "The right to public health, medical care, social security and social service".

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

This convention guarantees all workers the right to health care and to safety as well as protection of employment during maternity leave.

Article 7 "Safe and healthy working conditions"

Article 10 "Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth" Also "Children and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law"

Article 12 "The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for: The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child; The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases; The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness."

Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons (1971)

This convention reaffirms the universal protection of the right to adequate health and mandates proper care be provided for the mentally retarded. The convention also stipulates that the mentally retarded should receive aid that allows them to reach their full potential as human beings.

"The mentally retarded person has a right to proper medical care and physical therapy and to such education, training, rehabilitation and guidance as will enable him to develop his ability and maximum potential"

Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (1974)

This declaration establishes the right of all people to nutrition and sustenance sufficient to ensure their well-being.

"Every man, woman and child has the inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition in order to develop fully and maintain their physical and mental faculties" It is a fundamental responsibility of Governments to work together for higher food production and a more equitable and efficient distribution of food between countries and within countries. Governments should initiate immediately a greater concerted attack on chronic malnutrition and deficiency diseases among the vulnerable and lower income groups" All States should strive to the utmost to readjust, where appropriate, their agricultural policies to give priority to food production, recognizing, in this connection the interrelationship between the world food problem and international trade."

Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (1975)

This declaration reaffirms the universal protection of the right to adequate health and establishes that the disabled have the right to receive the special care they need.

"Disabled persons have the right to medical, psychological and functional treatment, including prosthetic and orthetic appliances, to medical and social rehabilitation, education, vocational training and rehabilitation, aid, counseling, placement services and other services which will enable them to develop their capabilities and skills to the maximum and will hasten the processes of their social integration or reintegration."

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)

This convention reaffirms the universal protection of the right to adequate health and details the special protections and considerations due to women.

Article 10 - "Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning."

Article 11 - "The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction." Also "To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful to them."

Article 12 - "States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning." Also "States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation."

Article 14 - "To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling and services in family planning."

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)

This convention mandates that no person shall be subject to torture by the state or with its consent or acquiescence to the use of terror by a non-government group.

Article 2 - "Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction."

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

This convention reaffirms the universal protection of the right to adequate health and proclaims that children are citizens of the state and, as such, are human beings guaranteed the rights specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article 6 - "States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life." Also "States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child"

Article 19 - "States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child."

Article 20 - "A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State. States Parties shall in accordance with their national laws ensure alternative care for such a child. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of children. When considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing and to the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background.

Article 23 - "States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active participation in the community. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to the child's condition and to the circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and spiritual development. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international cooperation, the exchange of appropriate information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional treatment of disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries."

Article 24 - "States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: To diminish infant and child mortality; To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care; To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution; To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers; To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents; To develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services. States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children. States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international co-operation with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right recognized in the present article. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries."

Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care (1991)

This declaration provides that care for mental health will be subsumed within the general health and welfare system:

"All persons have the right to the best available mental health care, which shall be part of the health and social care system."

information adapted from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

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