General Comment No. 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health
ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH, HUMAN RIGHTS
Since 1988, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has been publishing General Comments with a view of assisting States parties in fulfilling their reporting obligations and providing greater interpretative clarity as to the intent, meaning and content of the Covenant. The Committee's "General Comment No. 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health" was published in 2000 in order to elaborate upon Article 12 of the Covenant, which specifies the right to the highest attainable standard of health (or "right to health"). According to this General Comment, the right to health encompasses "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 potable water and adequate sanitation, safe and healthy working conditions, and a healthy environment." The General Comment specifies that availability, accessibility (including non-discrimination, physical accessibility, affordability and information accessibility), acceptability and quality are all inherent to the right to health. In addition to their own citizens, states parties to the Convention also have an international obligation to respect the right to health of citizens of other countries.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, "General Comment No. 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health," (2000)
A JOINT PROGRAM OF
