PHA-Exchange> The Patients' Charter Tuberculosis (5)

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

-- from George Kent <kent at hawaii.edu> -----
    
In my view, the key point is to recognize that we all have the same  
basic right to health, as articulated in General Comment 14. We  
should not suggest that any subgroup has any special rights with  
regard to health. It makes sense to discuss the ways in which GC14  
would apply to particular people in particular circumstances, but one  
should not suggest that any one group should have special rights.

To draw an analogy, the conventions on the human rights of special  
groups such as women, children, refugees, and migrant workers are  
best understood as articulating how general human rights law and  
principles apply to them. These conventions do not give them special  
rights.

A similar analysis can be made for regional human rights agreements,  
in Africa, Latin America, and Europe. They are about the  
implementation of universal human rights, not about the creation of  
special rights for people living in these regions.

One consequence of this view is that one should not argue that people  
with a particular disease should get free health care treatment.  
Instead, the approach should be to formulate the principles, based on  
interpretation of general human rights law and principles, under  
which people with any disease ought to get free treatment.



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