The international recognition of the right to health began with the reference to health in the United Nations Charter12 and took form in the preamble to the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization, which affirms,“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 condition.” 13 The Declaration of Alma-Ata, which was adopted by the International Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978, further proclaimed this right as a “most important world-wide social goal whose realization requires the action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector.” 14 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms everyone’s “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 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.” 9 The right to health is affirmed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 15 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 16 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

Against Women, 17 and especially in the ICESCR. 11 By ratifying the ICESCR, states recognize “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” and agree to take steps to achieve the full realization of this right. Both the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child elaborate health-related human rights for their target populations. The Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, which monitors application of the ICESCR, adopted an interpretive document in the form of a “general comment” on the right to health in May 2000, setting out in detail what states are expected to do to fulfill their obligations to realize this right. 18 Human rights, including the right to health, are often said to be “interdependent.” Clearly, the right to the highest attainable standard of health rests on the right to safe and healthy working conditions, clean water, and freedom from environmental toxins, but it depends in equal measure on the recognition of the dignity of the individual and the rights to education, free speech, and participation in the political process. Conversely, the ability to fully exercise other fundamental human rights depends on the right to health. Violation of any human right, including the right to health, contributes to the infringement of other rights.