Annual Report - National Human Rights Commission

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Right to Health
7.1 The Commission has identified the issue of ‘Right to Health’ as one of its
major concerns.
7.2 The World Health Organisation (WHO) endorses “health as a state of physical,
mental and social well being.” The Right to Health has been enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights under Article 25 stating, “Everyone has a right to standard
of living, adequate for the health and well being of himself and of his family including
food, clothing, housing and medical care and right to security in the event of sickness
and disability”. Moreover, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR) too under Article 12 recognizes “The right of everyone to the
enjoyment of highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”.
7.3 Further, for taking appropriate care of ‘Right to Health’ it is essentially relevant
to view it from the point of view of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR).
In this vein, the Commission has taken cognizance of Right to Health primarily
due to the fact that it needs to be relooked into as there are several shortcomings in
the present health care system.
A] Emergency Medical Services [EMS]
7.4 The Commission is deeply concerned about the prevailing unsatisfactory
system of emergency medical care in the country, which results in loss of many
lives. To look into this issue, the Commission constituted an Expert Group headed
by Dr. P.K.Dave, former Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences in April
2003 with the following terms of reference:
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