[OPINIÓN] Commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Human Rights) was proclaimed on December 10, 1948, establishing for the first time the fundamental human rights that must be protected throughout the world and that are a common ideal for all peoples and nations. Human Rights are understood as the inherent rights of all people, without any distinction of nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other condition. During the analysis prior to the presidential elections, the discussion has focused on the scope of human rights, focusing mainly on the right to education, migration, natural resources, among others. Despite this, it is essential to analyze the right to health. In this sense, Art. 25 of the declaration addresses the right to health, establishing that: “Everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living that ensures health and well-being, as well as their family, and especially food, clothing, housing, health care and the necessary social services ”. If we stop to analyze it, we can infer that health is more than the absence of disease and that there are many components necessary to achieve well-being. General Comment No. 14, relative to the right to the enjoyment of the highest possible level of health, indicates that the right to health is an inclusive right and that it contemplates not only timely and appropriate health care, but also social, political, and economic factors. environmental and cultural factors that will influence, positively or negatively, people’s health status and, therefore, their quality of life. Understanding health from a right approach means that the State is available to confront and correct existing inequalities in the health system, guiding public policies to progressively improve people’s right to health. However, this not only implies local actions, but also involves active communication and cooperation with those places (national and international) where the gaps are even larger. In the current context, international cooperation is essential to ensure access to health, non-discrimination and quality of care, and the availability of resources to shorten distances in relation to the management of the pandemic. The effective enjoyment of the right to health is not possible if other communities and other countries cannot access it. In conjunction with the above, and understanding that a disease is only a component of health, it is necessary to orient our efforts towards the equity of the factors that influence it and that allow improving the quality of life of all people and their communities.

Arturo Flores Riquelme

Academic Andrés Bello University

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