Interpretation of the Right to Health in the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The article considers the provisions of the Global Sustainable Development Goals, approved at the 2015 UN Summit on Sustainable Development. They point to the trends in human rights development and identify the main tasks of the civilized nations to be achieved by 2030. Human health determined by a complex biological (hereditary and acquired) and social factors. The author argues that Goal 3 «Ensuring a Healthy Life» equates with the right to health services, an important goal in itself and which is a practical means of achieving the goal, and the right to health care, which includes two important methodological issues: the right of access not only to medical services but also to the social and economic determinants of human health. The right to health care should also apply not only to health services, but also to the social and economic determinants of health. The key finding of the study shows that the international community focuses solely on the elements identified in Goal 3, and does not allow for a broad interpretation of the health care objectives. The issues of gender-based violence, maternal and child health, socio-economic determinants of health, as well as the health care system and the provision of health services are in the focus of the recommendations. Concurrently, the health issues of certain groups of population (adolescents, representatives of national minorities, people with disabilities) are quite fragmented. Also, not all health issues receive the same level of coverage in UN recommendations. In particular, the guidelines relatively neglect several health topics, including mental health and noncommunicable diseases.