Human Right to Health

Human Right to Health Blog


It is a well known fact that the good health of a population and the prosperity of a nation are linked. It is also well known that health is a crucial part of human rights. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25 states:

“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.” And “Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.”

The World Health Organization states that “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.” Yet despite support of this declaration and many statements regarding the human right to good health, many countries still deprive their citizens of their right to health. They lack basic access to doctors and they are burdened with ill-health leading to lower economic potential. This immoral burden severely limits the potential of a large amount of people.

One need not go very far to see the injustice of the lack of respect to a human’s right to health. The United States spends the most amount of money on its health care system, yet there are close to 47 million uninsured who do not have access to basic care. Recently, the WHO ranked the United State 37th on the overall health system performance. Sadly, the richest nation in the world does not have the means to provide its citizens access to affordable health care and thus denying them their right to health.

Although there are some resources devoted to helping the poor gain access to what some say would be the most advanced medical system in the world, there are severe limitations as to who is eligible to participate and what services are provided to its enrollees. Furthermore, health is deemed not as a right but a privilege by some in the United States. It provides the best medical care to those who can afford it but we need to ask ourselves if that is really what medical care is about.

What is interesting is that the debate about health care is not about the purpose of health care but about economics. The human aspect of health has been completely removed and any efforts to introduce that aspect have been rebuked by ideological arguments. Health care is often seen as a commodity whose distribution should be based on the markets. The proponents of this argument say that charities must step in to provide for those who have fallen through the gaps in the market. They do not see a legal basis for the health care problem. They fear that if health is seen as a right enforceable and defended on a legal perspective, what others may be seen as a right like adequate food (what kind of food is a basic right?) and adequate housing (how big does one’s dwelling have to be in order to be classified as adequate?). The opponents of health as a right say that health is too complicated to be dealt with. Health can be affected by pollution, workplace safety and many others. How is it that a government can address all of these issues without burdening the rest of the country? The answer to this question is we are not going to be defining what good health but that everyone should have basic access to a doctor so they can get medical checkups. While it is true that good health is a result of many complex factors, basic access to medical care is not. It is just our will to fund for those who are unable to fund for themselves.

The United States government has, for the most part, resisted the promotion of social rights. Surprisingly, the United States has not ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and there does not seem to be a movement to advocate for the adoption of this rights document due to the current economic and political climate. One way to reshape the debate in this arena is to reframe the argument in an economic framework that shows that most people will benefit from the extension of health care benefits to every citizen. The public perception that health care is a commodity must shift in order for meaningful implementation of the human right to health. There needs to be efforts to show where the money that is currently spent on health care goes in order for the public to see that the inefficiency of the markets is not contributing to the equitable distribution of health care.

It is also important to note that poor access to health care tends to be very expensive in the long run. Many of the diseases that can be treated and prevented at early stages are postponed until either funds are available to seek medical care or until the situation worsens until the individual is forced to seek treatment.

After the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s, these programs have significantly helped those that were most vulnerable. They are highly popular and any efforts to revoke these programs will be political suicide for any politician. Yet, there is a lack of political will to expand these programs for the rest of the population thus guaranteeing every citizen has access to adequate health care.

In many other parts of the world, the primary reason for the lack of access to medical care is the lack of funds. Those countries do not have strong, viable economies that provide income to the government or the people so they can pay for basic care. But in this country, we can not use that excuse because we already spend $2.2 trillion on health care every year.

WHO states that the “vulnerability to ill-health can be reduced by taking steps to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.” This fight is linked with the fight to promote human rights. The United States has been an advocate of human rights for decades yet it overlooks its own shortfalls and has done very little to rectify this injustice. There is no limitation as to whether the health system is public or private but as long as everyone is equitably treated. For the United States, it seems that a partnership between public and private institutions is required to further the health of the population. The most important aspect of health as a human right is the ability to have access to quality care regardless of ability to pay. Unfortunately, the United States rations its health care based on an individual’s ability to pay for their care.



References

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Gostin L. The Human Right to Health: A Right to the “Highest Attainable Standard of Health”. The Hastings Center Report. 2001; 31(2): 29-30.

Gruskin S, Trantola D. Human Rights and HIV/AIDS. HIV InSite Knowledge Base Chapter: University of California San Francisco. 2002.

Mann JM. Health and Human Rights: if not now, when? Health Human Rights. 1997; 2(3): 113-120.

Roseman MJ, Gruskin S. HIV/AIDS & Human Rights: In a Nutshell. Program on International Health and Human Rights. Boston, MA: Harvard School of Public Health. 2004.

Skolnik R. The Principles and Goals of Global Health. Essentials of Global Health. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bertlett Publishers; 2008.

Stone L, Gostin LO. Using Human Rights to Combat the HIV/AIDS Pandemic. Human Rights Magazine. 2004.