Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The Right to Health: Looking beyond Health Facilities agnes binagwaho and kedest mathewos In 1946, the Constitution of the World Health Organization first articulated the right to health, stating that "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being." 1 This right was further enshrined as a human right in 1966 in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which communicates four core components-availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality. 2 Furthermore, defining health as a human right insinuated the need for legal accountability, equality and nondiscrimination, and participation.Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, states' commitment to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health for all was unmet-at best, acknowledged-across the globe.The COVID-19 pandemic did two things.First, it undermined efforts to improve health outcomes and bridge gaps in health care delivery.3 The interruption of health services, the rise in unemployment, and the increase in gender-based violence, to name a few indirect impacts, affected the most vulnerable.4 Note, however, that this is not a novel realization-health crises have consistently affected the most vulnerable and have put accountability for the right to health on the back burner.Second, and potentially one of the few silver linings of the pandemic, is the extent to which it has shone light on the necessity of enforcing the right to health and the fragility of human society in its absence.Failure to protect individuals' right to health has prolonged the pandemic and resulted in economic, social, and political chaos that has further thwarted efforts to achieve the former.The authors in this special section successfully highlight various ways in which stakeholders across the spectrum can work toward the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.In this commentary, we draw from their expertise and our reflections on the right to health to discuss some strategies toward the fulfillment of this human right.The achievement of the right to health requires patient accompaniment.Heidi Behforouz, ex-director of the Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment project at Partners In Health, describes accompaniment as follows: "Accompaniment in one sense is an easy term.You walk with the patient-not behind or in front of the patient-lending solidarity, a shoulder, a sounding board, a word of counsel or caution.Empowering not enabling."5 Accompaniment was also highlighted by Paul Farmer, with whom we collaborated closely, and to whom this special section is dedicated.It extends beyond the delivery of quality,
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: Agnes Binagwaho, Kedest Mathewos
Institutions: Harvard University, University of Global Health Equity
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4379095299