RIGHT TO HEALTH MANUAL

The right to health is an empowering right that greatly facilitates the realisation and enjoyment of other human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is a part of the most fundamental of the fundamental human rights which is the right to life as it supports the fulcrum upon which other rights rotate. Nigeria is bound by national and international standards on the right to health and these include, at the international level, the standard setting Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR), Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the regional African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). Others include the Alma-Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care clarified in the Declaration of Asanta.6 The states and local governments, being parts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are bound by these standards. At the national level, there is the constitutional obligation under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy on adequate medical and health facilities for all persons;7 National Health Act of 2014, National Primary Health Care Development Agency Act,8 National Health Insurance Scheme Act,9 National Health Policy of 2016 and the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) 2018-2022.