| Abstract |
This report presents a detailed desk review providing the constitutional provisions of the right to health in 15 countries in east and southern Africa (ESA): Angola, Botswana, Congo-Brazzaville, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The review was carried out within the Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET) by the Center for Health, Human Right and Development.
This paper used the six core obligations as spelt out in General Comment 14 to assess the inclusion of the right to health in the constitutional provisions of the ESA countries:
· to ensure the right of access to health facilities, goods and services on a non-discriminatory basis, especially for vulnerable or marginalised groups;
· to ensure access to the minimum essential food which is nutritionally adequate and safe, to ensure freedom from hunger to everyone;
· to ensure access to basic shelter, housing and sanitation, and an adequate supply of safe and potable water;
· to provide essential drugs, as from time to time defined under the WHO Action Programme on Essential Drugs;
· to ensure equitable distribution of all health facilities, goods and services; and
· to adopt and implement a national public health strategy and plan of action |