Rules of International Health Law

International Legal Provisions Universal Declaration of Human Righs 1948, Article 25: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and the right to security in the event of…sickness, disability…”

World Health Organisation Constitution WHO Constitution (preamble): “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 conditions.” WHO definition of health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity”. WHO Declaration on the Promotion of Patient’s Rights in Europe

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1996 ICESCR came into force in 1976 Article 12 (1): 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.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1996 Article 12(2): 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: (a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the health development of the child; (b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; (c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases; (d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness (UNGA 1966; Article 12)

UN Economic and Social Council – General Comment 14, 2000 “[T]he express wording of article 12.2 acknowledges that the right to health embraces a wide range of socio-economic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as food and nutrition, housing, access to safe and portable water and adequate sanitation, safe and healthy working conditions, and a healthy environment…[5]. The Committee is aware that, for millions of people throughout the world, the full enjoyment of the right to health still remains a distant goal.”

UN Economic and Social Council – General Comment 14, 2000

General Comment 14 suggests that the right to health contains the following elements: “Availability. Functioning public health and health care facilities, goods and services, as well as programmes in sufficient quantity. Accessibility. Health facilities, goods and services accessible to everyone, within the jurisdiction of the State party. Accessibility has four overlapping dimensions: non-discrimination physical accessibility economical accessibility (affordability) information accessibility Acceptability. All health facilities, goods and services must be respectful of medical ethics and culturally appropriate as well as sensitive to gender and life-cycle requirements. Quality. Health facilities, goods and services must be scientifically and medically appropriate and of good quality.” See also the information available at

Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 24(1): “States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.”

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Article 5 (e)(iv) provides that States Parties undertake to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in the enjoyment of “the right to public health, medical care, social security and social services.”

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Article 11(1)(f) provides that States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the enjoyment of “the right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.” Article 12 provides that all appropriate measures should be taken by States Parties to elimination 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.”

European instruments relating to the right to health European Convention on Human Rights Art. 8 ECHR focuses on the right of access to health information European Social Charter of 1961 (as revised) Art. 3. All workers have the right to safe and healthy working conditions. Art. 16. The family as a fundamental unit of society has the right to appropriate social, legal and economic protection to ensure its full development. Art.17. Mothers and children, irrespective of marital status and family relations, have the right to appropriate social and economic protection.

African 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.”

Rules of International Health Law Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1989/11 includes proclamation of a right to health Vienna Declaration and Programme of Act of 1993 United Nations General Assembly Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care Resolution (adopted in 1991)

Right to health Paul Hunt, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health claimed that the “right to health” was “little more than a slogan for more than 50 years” (Hunt,P. 2007, “Right to the highest attainable standard of health”, The Lancet, 370 at p.369) Hunt claims that it was not until the UN Economic and Social Council’s adoption of General Comment 14 in 2000 that “it became clear what the right to health encompassed” (Davis, S. 2010, Reproductive health as a human right, Journal of Human Rights, 9;4; at 390)

Ireland’s commitment to international human rights Ireland has ratified: Charter of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Ireland’s commitment to international human rights Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Convention on the Rights of the Child Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Ireland and the ICESCR “In Ireland, similarly, the State has been implacable in the face of repeated requests to give economic, social and cultural rights full legal effect…” (Dowler & O’Connor, 74 (2012) Social Science & Medicine, at 46)

ICESCR – Ireland and undocumented workers right to health Proposed Immigration Residence and Protection Bill that provides that undocumented workers should only be allowed access to emergency services is “contrary to Article 12(2) of the ICESCR in relation to all participants of society being supported to access basic level of medical services, as well as being contrary to a range of policy commitments by successive Irish governments.” (Migrant Rights Centre Ireland). According to MRCI “Immigration status also plays a key part in accessing pre and post natal care. Many women after they give birth report that they do not consistently return for medical checkups, impacting in the long term on their gynecological and reproductive health.” and “Undocumented migrant workers and those working in an irregular situation should have the right to access basic health and social care services in Ireland”. (MRCI, 2011, p.6)