Editorial: promoting equity in health: what role for courts?

Health Hum Rights. 2014 Dec 11;16(2):E1-9.

Abstract

One of the most significant transformations to occur in the landscape of struggles for health justice since this journal was originally launched relates to the increasing judicialization of health-related rights, and economic, social, and cultural rights (ESC rights) more broadly. Indeed, the articles in this issue go far toward debunking outdated conceptions about health rights as merely "programmatic rights," which are not justiciable. Over the last 20 years, and increasingly in the last decade, we have seen that health and related rights are in fact being enforced by courts around the world, from South America to South Asia, Eastern Europe to East Africa. And increasingly, even in low-income countries, important demands for health-related entitlements are being framed in terms of legally enforceable claims.

Publication types

  • Editorial

MeSH terms

  • Health Services Accessibility / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Human Rights / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Humans
  • Judicial Role*
  • Patient Rights / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Socioeconomic Factors