Monitoring and Enforcing Health Law to Achieve Human Rights

Human rights now impact health through a number of international treaties and national laws and policies, starting from the constitution of the WHO stating that:- “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being” and defining governmental obligations for specific health and social measures to be realised for granting to each individual “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Assessing the implementation of international human rights law through national practice can facilitate human rights accountability for public health promotion and press governments to implement rights.
This session would explore how and to which extent various jurisdictions worldwide respect, protect and fulfill health-related rights in their constitutions and laws and how litigations empowered individuals to raise human rights claims for health and has provided rights-based accountability in national and regional courts, with human rights now understood to offer a framework for health policy.