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“We demand the inclusion of the right to Health in the new Zimbabwe constitution!”
This was the slogan at the Community Working Group on Health 15th National Conference. The Conference was held in October 2008 in Harare and coincided with the organisation’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
The CWGH was born in 1998, to lead and give visibility to community processes in health. It has been organizing civil society on health at district and national level, and has set up local CWGH committees in about 25 districts, urban and rural in Zimbabwe. To back our efforts to address these, the CWGH membership unanimously endorsed that the network champions the ‘Right to Health’ and push its inclusion in the production of a new Zimbabwe constitution. We see that embedding the right to health in our constitution will give us the bottom line we need to make it clear that everyone has a claim to health care, regardless of the economic, social-political status, race, creed, gender or other features. It will be a right that we will fight to include and ensure that it is not left on paper, but protected and promoted, through social action.
The inclusion of the Right to Health in the New Zimbabwean Constitution is a show of commitment by the state in promoting social progress and better standards of life. This is consistent with the state’s ratification of the International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1991 and in particular the UN General Comment 14. It reinforces the commitment to other major regional and International commitments entered into by the Zimbabwe government concerning the right to health and health care
In order to achieve the right to health and health care with full community participation, CWGH envisage full implementation of the principles of Primary Health Care (PHC) concept and strongly advocates for a comprehensive PHC system, if there is hope for change in the health sector. The CWGH will consistently engage with stakeholders and government to make PHC a more central policy principle, and we will strengthen community structures such as health centre committees and boards, committees at district and national level to organize public efforts to achieve this principle.
The right to health is not just about access to health care and building hospital it is all encompassing of the following determinants on health:
· Safe drinking water and adequate sanitation;
· Safe food;
· Adequate nutrition and housing;
· Healthy working and environmental conditions;
· Health-related education and information;
· Gender equity and gender equality.
The right to health also contains freedoms which need to be observed. These rights include that a person should be free from non-consensual (forced) medical treatment, such as medical experiments and research or forced sterilization, and to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
There are other prerogatives which are found in the right to health claim which need to be observed these are
· The right to a system of health protection providing equality of opportunity for everyone to enjoy the highest attainable level of health
· The right to prevention, treatment and control of diseases
· Access to essential medicines
· Available and affordable maternal, child and reproductive health services
· Equal and timely access to basic health services
· The provision of health-related education and information
· Participation of the population in health-related decision making at the national and community levels. This is where CWGH a representative of many community groups play a critical role by representing the community at a national interface level.
Health services, goods and facilities must be provided to all individuals without any discrimination. They should not be any marginalization of any specific population groups in provision of health services for whatever reason.
For the right to health to be fully attained all health services, goods and health related facilities must be available, accessible, acceptable, of good quality with participation of communities. This entails;
· Functioning public health and health-care facilities in all provinces in Zimbabwe
· Available related medical goods which are in a good quality state which are medically, scientifically, culturally and ethically acceptable to the generality of the population of Zimbabwe.
· Easily physically accessible health facilities to all age groups and any special groups e.g. the disabled
Recommendations for inclusion into the constitution
A separate section on the right to health should be clearly included in the constitution (preferable under declaration of rights). The following should be included in the constitution:
Every citizen of this country should have ‘The right to health’. This is all encompassing of the following determinants on health as well as other specific issues:
· Safe drinking water and adequate sanitation;
· Safe food, adequate household food security (nutrition) and housing;
· Healthy working and environmental conditions;
· Available and accessible health-related education and information;
· Gender equality.
· Freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
· Promoting, protecting and ensuring the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities, including their right to health, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity
· HIV/AIDS affected persons have the right to freedom from discrimination, the right to life, equality before the law, the right to privacy and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
· People with terminally illnesses, life limiting illnesses or chronically ill have the right of access to adequate pain control medication and health care which improves their quality of life.
· Freedom from non-consensual (forced) medical treatment, for example medical experiments, research and sterilisations.
· The right to a system of health protection providing equality of opportunity for everyone to enjoy the highest attainable level of health
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