By Conan Businge
THE Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has set up an office to
sensitise and offer legal aid to citizens whose rights to health are
abused.
UHRC launched the health rights unit on Monday at its head office in Kampala.
“The right to health should not be understood as the right to be
healthy. It simply contains both freedoms and entitlements to health.
The freedom includes the right to control one’s health and body,
including sexual and reproductive issues,” an official said.
It also includes the right to conditions vital to being healthy, she added.
The unit has been operational since 2006. It is funded by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), under its country
programme, Action Plan.
According to the UHRC chairperson, Margaret Sekaggya, one has a
right to be free from torture, non-consensual medical treatment and
experimentation.
“This right stipulates that every human being is entitled to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health conducive to living a life of dignity,” Sekaggya explained.
She was flanked by Sam Ibanda of UNDP and the assistant
commissioner for planning in the ministry of health, Dr. John
Bagambisa.
The right to health is contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promulgated in 1948.
Bagambisa said the unit would help “people realise what they are
entitled to in the health units and empower them to demand for the
services.”
He added that they were planning to secure $100m (about sh1.7b) to support the health sector next year. |
No comments:
Post a Comment