LEGAL INSTRUMENTS
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 25: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."
International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights
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..."
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
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... 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: States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right... To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling and services in family planning..."
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Article 5: In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: Economic, social and cultural rights, in particular... The right to public health, medical care, social security and social services..."
African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
Article 16: "Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health... States parties to the present Charter shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of their people and to ensure that they receive medical attention when they are sick."
Constitution of the World Health Organization
The entire document is relevant to the right to health. See, for example, the preamble, which states: "The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition."
POLITICAL COMMITMENTS
Agenda 21
Para. 6.12: ???We commit ourselves to... eliminate guinea worm disease... eradicate polio... reduce measles deaths by 95 per cent... ensure universal access to safe drinking water and... sanitary measures of excreta disposal... [reduce] the number of deaths from childhood diarrhea...???
Copenhagen Declaration
Commitment 6: ???We commit ourselves to??? attaining??? universal and equitable access to??? the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and??? access of all to primary health care??????
Beijing Platform for Action
Para. 106: ???We commit ourselves to... ensure universal access to... health services... make reproductive health care accessible... to all... the reduction of mortality rates of infants and children under five... by one third of the 1990 level... by the year 2015 an infant mortality rate below 35 per 1,000 live births...???
The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
Article 17: "Everyone shall have the right to medical and social care, and to all public amenities provided by society and the State within the limits of their available resources... The States shall ensure the right of the individual to a decent living that may enable him to meet his requirements and those of his dependents, including food, clothing, housing, education, medical care and all other basic needs..."
Declaration of Alma-Ata
Article 1: "The Conference strongly reaffirms that health, which is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right and that the attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important
world-wide social goal..."
Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 'Protocol of San Salvador'
Article 10 Right to Health: "Everyone shall have the right to health, understood to mean the enjoyment of the highest level of physical, mental and social well-being... In order to ensure the exercise of the right to health, the States Parties agree to recognize health as a public good and, particularly, to adopt the following measures to ensure that right... Primary health care, that is, essential health care made available to all individuals and families in the community; Extension of the benefits of health services to all individuals subject to the State's jurisdiction; Universal immunization against the principal infectious diseases; Prevention and treatment of endemic, occupational and other diseases; Education of the population on the prevention and treatment of health problems, and Satisfaction of the health needs of the highest risk groups and of those whose poverty makes them the most vulnerable."