Universal-MigrationHRlaw-PG-no-6-Publications-PractitionersGuide-2014-eng

MIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW | 247
to housing, the African Commission has stated that “the corollary of
the provisions protecting the right to enjoy the best attainable state of
mental and physical health [. . .], the right to property, and the protection
accorded to the family” mean that the right to shelter or housing,
including protection from forced evictions are effectively engaged under
the Charter. 1007
2. Health
The right to health, or, more precisely, the right to the highest attainable
standard of health, is recognised in numerous international instruments.
1008 It encompasses both the liberty to control one’s own health
and body, and the entitlement to a system of health protection that provides
equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attainable
level of health. 1009 As the CESCR has noted, “the right to health embraces
a wide range of socio-economic factors that promote conditions in
which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants
of health, such as food and nutrition, housing, access to safe
and potable water and adequate sanitation, safe and healthy working
conditions, and a healthy environment.” 1010 The right to health requires
that healthcare be available and accessible to all without discrimination.
It must be affordable, including to socially disadvantaged groups, and
culturally accessible to minorities. 1011
The CESCR has clarified that States have a core obligation to ensure the
satisfaction of minimum essential levels of healthcare rights. 1012 These
core obligations are:
• To ensure the right of access to health facilities, goods and services
on a non-discriminatory basis, especially for vulnerable or
marginalised groups;
• To ensure access to the minimum essential food which is nutritionally
adequate and safe, to ensure freedom from hunger;
1007 SERAC and CESR v. Nigeria, ACommHPR, op. cit., fn. 29, paras. 60–63.
1008 Article 12 ICESCR; Article 25.1 UDHR; Article 5(e)(iv) ICERD; Articles 11.1(f) and 12
CEDAW; Article 24 CRC; Article 25 CRPD; Article 11 ESC(r); Article 16 ACHPR; Article 10,
Protocol of San Salvador; Article XI ADRDM; Article 14, Protocol to the ACHPR on the Rights
of Women in Africa; Article 14 ACRWC; Constitution of the World Health Organisation, adopted
19 June to 22 July 1946. The right to health has been proclaimed by the Commission on
Human Rights, as well as in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993 and
other international instruments.
1009 CESCR, General Comment No. 14, op. cit., fn. 37, para. 8.
1010 Ibid., para. 4.
1011 Ibid., para. 12
1012 Ibid., para. 43. Definition of primary health care is also enshrined in the Declaration of
Alma-Ata, adopted 6–12 September 1978 at the International Conference on Primary Health
Care.