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IFHHRO - The Right to Health

Central to IFHHRO’s work is the concept of the Right to Health. IFHHRO believes that health professionals and their associations have an important role to play in the monitoring and promotion of this right.

The Right to Health is short for ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’, a phrase coined by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) to ensure all people equal access to health care and health-related services (e.g., clean drinking water), within the limits of a State’s capacity. In May 2000, CESCR published General Comment No. 14, which provided a detailed description of the obligations of States to secure the Right to Health, as well as criteria for monitoring this right.

General Comment No. 14 strengthens the basic principle that the accessibility, availability and affordability of health care of good quality is an inalienable right for all. In the 21st Century, the Right to Health is a right, not just a service and not a charity, commodity or a privilege. Absence of available, accessible and affordable health care and underlying preconditions of health is thus not an absence of service, but a violation of a basic human right.

Recognizing that there is a Right to Health implies that governments have obligations, both with regard to medical services and to other aspects of life that determine health, such as clean drinking water and adequate sanitation, or protection against environmental and occupational hazards. It also implies that individuals and groups can hold their governments accountable for not taking progressive measures to comply with these obligations. Since 2002, there is a Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, who oversees the progress made by governments in realizing the Right to Health.

Monitoring the Right to Health

Civil society organizations can assist UN human rights committees that are overseeing the implementation of international obligations, by producing shadow reports to the government reports. These shadow reports may complement and sometimes contradict the official country reports submitted to these UN committees. IFHHRO believes that, with regards to health, health professionals have a crucial role and a responsibility to promote implementation of health-related rights and to document and spread information on infringements of rights within the health system.

IFHHRO defines monitoring the Right to Health as the participation of health professionals in the protection and promotion of health-related human rights by applying their medical skills and providing medical data.

• Doctors and nurses can document inequalities in access to health care, clean water and sanitation due to poverty and/or discrimination.
• Forensic doctors can determine visible and invisible scars and wounds of torture.
• Epidemiologists can document the fluctuation of incidents of tuberculosis among disadvantaged groups.
• Psychiatrists can diagnose psychotrauma as a consequence of rape, domestic violence or civil war.
• National associations of health professionals can produce, translate and distribute guidelines and protocols, and train their members on how to use these.

To increase health professionals’ involvement in human rights work, IFHHRO’s activities focus on:

1. Facilitating international cooperation and networking for health and human rights organisations
2. Training staff of health and human rights organisations and committed health professionals in human rights monitoring
3. Cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
4. Supporting (new) member organisations, especially in the South.

More information on the Right to Health

The Right to Health: A Toolkit for Health Professionals
BMA, IFHHRO & Commat, 2007
[ More information ]     [ Download PDF ]

Fact sheet Our right to the highest attainable standard of health
Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex & IFHHRO, 2007
[ Download PDF ]

The assessment of the right to health and health care at the country level. A People’s Health Movement Guide
People’s Health Movement, October 2006
[ Download PDF ]

The right to health. A fundamental human right affirmed by the United Nations and recognized in regional treaties and numerous national constitutions
M. Özden, Centre Europe - Tiers Monde (CETIM), 2006
[ Download PDF ]

The Right to Health: A Resource Manual for NGOs
Judith Asher, Commat, 2004 (186 p.)
[ Download PDF ]

CESCR General Comment No.14 on the Right to Health
CESCR, 2000
 [ Read online ]

Documents of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

 

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