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Human right health
Health – a human right
Health is defined as a state of complete physical and mental well-being. Many people in developing countries have no chance of achieving that state.
Every year more than 7.5 million infants still die from diseases that are mostly avoidable. That is equivalent to around 21,000 deaths every day. More than 80 per cent of these deaths occur in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Every day around 1,000 women die worldwide from the consequences of pregnancy or childbirth, because proper medical care is not available.
According to United Nations’ estimates, 1.8 million people died of AIDS in 2010. Many millions also suffer from diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, river blindness, sleeping sickness and dengue fever.
This catastrophic state of affairs has many causes, but the main one is poverty. Illnesses are a frequent, direct consequence; at the same time, poverty can result after a period of illness. Successfully reducing poverty is one important precondition for improving the health of people in poor countries.
That is one reason why German development cooperation focuses on poverty reduction. Efforts undertaken in this field by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) are orientated to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), three of which focus on health:
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Reducing child mortality (MDG 4),
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Reducing the number of maternal deaths during pregnancy or in childbirth (MDG 5), and
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Controlling AIDS and other infectious diseases (MDG 6).
Health – a human right
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 proclaims, in article 25, that:
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services (…)."
Violation of this clearly defined human right to health is a humanitarian disaster for people living in the developing countries and a moral disaster for the rest of humankind.
Improving the health of people living in developing countries is therefore a priority area of German development cooperation. It focuses on the following:
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Strengthening health systems, especially by helping to finance the training of health workers, developing social protection systems, the solidary-based financing of health care and cross-sectoral approaches to promoting health;
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Strengthening the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, including improving access to affordable medicines;
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Empowering women and improving their options in regard to birth control, pregnancy and childbirth.
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