The right to health – enshrined in international human rights documents and many domestic constitutions – in principle entitles every individual to “the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. But what does this mean in practice? How can it be implemented when demands for health services exceeds ability to pay and all countries, including Norway, discuss ways to limit health care spending? Do health rights, by entitling everyone to everything, undermine attempts to fairly prioritize resources for health? Or can health rights be implemented in ways that contribute towards fairer health policies. Judges and researchers from different countries discuss opportunities for improving health policies and outcomes though the use of rights, and dilemmas and constraints rights-based-approaches face in contexts faced with different levels of resource scarcity.
Chair: Henriette Sinding Aasen (Faculty of Law, UiB)
Introductions:
• Mumbi Ngugi (Justice of the High Court, Kenya)
• Lilian Tibatemwa (Justice,Court of Appeal, Uganda)
• Octavio Ferraz (Kings College London)
• Anne-Mette Magnussen (Bergen Univesity College)
• Ole Frithjof Norheim (Medical Faculty, UiB)