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The Human Right to Health
Author(s) -
Hassoun Nicole
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
philosophy compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.973
H-Index - 25
ISSN - 1747-9991
DOI - 10.1111/phc3.12215
Subject(s) - right to health , human rights , human health , health care , political science , law , law and economics , sociology , environmental ethics , psychology , medicine , philosophy , environmental health
Is there a human right to health? If so, what are its grounds? Can a legal or moral human right to health provide any practical guidance when it comes to making decisions about, for instance, the allocation of scarce health resources? There are many possible answers to these questions in the literature. This article surveys some of these replies. First, however, it examines the distinctions between legal and moral human rights and rights to health vs. health care. It then surveys the literature on potential grounds for a moral (and possibly legal) human right to health. It concludes by considering replies to several common objections to the existence of a human right to health.