ISLAMABAD: Following the Covid-19 crisis and given Pakistan’s generally poor health outcomes, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday deemed it necessary to campaign for the right to health to be made a fundamental right.

This observation was made at a national roundtable held on the need to recognise the right to health as an independent fundamental right in the Constitution.

One of the speakers, Sahar Bandial, who is a lawyer, said that in international law, health was seen as an interdependent right, which depended on the provision of other rights, including the right to food, water, sanitation and a healthy environment.

She said the probability of successfully enforcing the right to health would increase if the scope of that right was clearly defined in the Constitution. Recognising this right would also express the state’s moral and legal commitment to enforcing it, she added.

Former PM’s aide says state never prioritised primary healthcare; Speakers for collective action on health at district level

Development practitioner and activist Zoya Rehman, who is working on a people’s manifesto on the right to health for the HRCP, said individuals had identified a range of concerns, including the de-humanisation of trans-persons in the health sector.

Former special assistant to the prime minister on health Faisal Sultan said it was important to ensure that the right to health should not dissolve into platitudes. Unless underwritten by sufficient funds, the right to health could not be realised, he added.

Former PM’s aide on health Dr Zafar Mirza pointed out that the state had never prioritised primary healthcare. Calling it a ‘social crisis’, he said all political parties should explicitly commit to the right to health in their manifestos.

Senator Walid Iqbal cautioned that introducing constitutional amendments was a long, often difficult process, adding that the courts had already articulated the right to health through the right to life.

Discussing marginalised communities’ access to healthcare, Nabila Zaka from Unicef cited the example of a pregnant sex worker whom hospitals had refused to treat when they learned she was HIV-positive.

Criticising the recent bill that had effectively rendered gender dysphoria illegal, trans rights activist Mehrub Awan said: ’Healthcare looks different for different people,“ adding that, “gender-affirming care is lifesaving care”.

Other speakers underscored the need for collective action on health at the district level. They stressed on the right to health should be seen in terms of the right to life, as preventive and promoting healthcare.

They also argued that the right to privacy was also linked to the right to health, explaining that health data leaks could have catastrophic fallout for vulnerable groups.

Emphasising the HRCP’s commitment to the right to health, chairperson Hina Jilani said there was a strong link between modern slavery and the right to health, explaining that the HRCP had found that most bonded labourers took on debt servitude because of family health crises.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2023