A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Healthcare
the personal and cultural fulfillment of the individual.” 336
Much of the trauma Liberians experienced during the conflict has gone untreated or remains undertreated,
and Liberians remain in need of both basic and specialized health care services, including
mental health services. The international instruments discussed at the beginning of this section provide
a guiding framework for effective implementation of the right to health for Liberians, specifically
making clear that every individual has a right to the best attainable state of physical and mental health.
The Advocates recommends the following:
• The Government of Liberia should ensure that the right to health includes both “timely and
appropriate health care,” as well as the “underlying determinants of health, such as access
to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition
and housing, healthy occupational and environmental conditions, and access to health-related
education and information, including education on sexual and reproductive health.” 337
• To fully recognize the right to health, the Government of Liberia should base activities on the
premise that the right to health includes the following elements as defined by the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: 338
o Availability. Functioning public
health and health-care facilities,
goods, and services, as well as
programs, have to be available in
sufficient quantity. The precise
nature of the facilities, goods,
and services will vary depending
on numerous factors, including
Liberia’s developmental level. At
a minimum, however, they will
include the underlying determinants
of health, such as:
• safe and potable drinking
water and adequate sanitation
facilities,
• hospitals, clinics, and
other health-related buildings,
• trained medical and professional personnel receiving domestically competitive
salaries, and
• essential drugs, as defined by the WHO Action Programme on Essential
Drugs.
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Potential Implementation Strategy: Coupling
Health Education with Healthcare Packages
In Mexico the program Oportunidades included
a component whereby health packages were
provided to families, and those health packages
included mandatory health promotion talks
that educated families on issues of reproductive
health. 339 The Government of Liberia may
consider similar education campaigns to help
combat issues associated with reproductive
health such as early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, STI
transmission, maternal care, and other health
issues.