Right to health

In December 1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted two covenants, the Civil and Political Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Social Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Social Covenant came into force under international law on 3 January 1976 and contains the following social rights in addition to economic and cultural rights, the guarantee of equal rights for men and women and the right to self-determination:

Protection of the family, maternity protection, protection of children and young people, rights to social security, an adequate standard of living, food, clothing, housing, health, water and sanitation.

The corresponding articles 10, 11 and 12 of the Covenant read:

Article 10

The Contracting States recognise,

1. that the family, as the natural nucleus of society, shall enjoy the greatest possible protection and assistance, in particular with regard to its establishment and as long as it is responsible for the care and upbringing of dependent children. Marriage may only be entered into with the free consent of the future spouses;
2. that mothers should enjoy special protection during an appropriate period before and after childbirth. During this period, working mothers should receive paid leave or leave with appropriate social security benefits;
3. that special measures should be taken to protect and assist all children and adolescents without discrimination on the basis of parentage or other grounds. Children and adolescents should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work that is harmful to their morals or health, endangers their lives or is likely to hinder their normal development should be punishable by law. States should also set age limits below which the paid employment of children is prohibited and punishable by law.

Article 11

(1) States Parties recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. States Parties shall take appropriate steps to ensure the realisation of this right and to this end recognise the vital importance of international co-operation based on free consent.

(2. Recognising the fundamental right of everyone to be protected from hunger, States Parties shall individually and through international cooperation take the necessary measures, including special programmes, to

1. (a) To improve methods of production, preservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating nutritional principles and by developing or reforming agricultural systems with a view to the most effective development and utilisation of natural resources;
2. b) to ensure equitable distribution of the world’s food resources according to need, taking into account the problems of food importing and exporting countries.

Article 12

(1) The States Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

(2. The steps to be taken by States Parties towards the full realisation of this right shall include such measures as may be necessary

1. (a) To reduce the number of stillbirths and infant mortality and to promote the healthy development of the child;
2. (b) To improve all aspects of environmental and occupational hygiene;
3. c) to prevent, treat and combat epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;
4. d) to create the conditions to ensure that everyone has access to medical facilities and medical care in the event of illness.

“Empowerment Right”

The right to health is a right whose realisation is a prerequisite for the implementation of other human rights. This means that, like the promotion of education (as part of the right to education), the promotion of health is a crucial component in the fight against poverty or the risk of poverty due to illness.

The right to health is also enshrined in the right to life (Art. 6) and the right to protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and from medical experiments without consent (Art. 7) and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). The signatory states of the UN Social Covenant have committed to “progressively” realising the right to health and the right to education.

In order to achieve this continuous progress in the realisation of the right to health by the appropriate means, there is an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil.
Further information

UN Social Covenant

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