Luanda, 20 November 2012 -- All Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the African Region are signatories to international and human rights treaties in which the right to health is enshrined. Yet, experts say, the health status of millions of people in the region remains poor. 

Why is this the case and how can the situation be improved?

These and other questions are addressed in a report presented today by the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, to the Sixty-second Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa which is taking place in Luanda, the Angolan capital.

In the report, Dr Sambo details the reasons for the large and growing inequities in the provi-sion of access to health care within countries in the region.

Notable among reasons for these inequities is the fact that the right to health is often not guaranteed by governments through appropriate policies and legislation; prohibitive costs which limit access to medical products, technologies and services; weak public health infrastructure; ineffective referral systems and inadequate consideration of gender in health care delivery. 

Dr Sambo maintains that one of the most common barriers to access to quality medical products and technologies by Africans is the growing problem of pharmaceutical products which are falsely labeled, spurious, counterfeit or substandard“ This singular challenge is compounded by inadequate incentive structures for medicines and vaccine research and development, as well as trade-related barriers.

Also on the list of challenges outlined by Dr Sambo are those related to ethics in biomedical research, lack of regulatory infrastructures and independent oversight processes to minimize exploitation, inadequate informed consent, and the tendency for greater risks than benefits for research participants.   

Gender-related inequities constitute another challenge.  This group of challenges is exemplified by gender-based discrimination that marginalizes women and undermines their sexual and reproductive health rights. Examples of such rights are safe motherhood, family planning, abortion care and the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections including prevention and management of HIV/AIDS, infertility and cancers of the reproductive system.

In addition to the above-mentioned obstacles, members of the public -- including even health care workers -- often lack awareness of their right to health and to healthy working conditions. This gap limits their ability to initiate actions to advance their health rights. 

Dr Sambo then proceeds to make recommendations for surmounting these pervasive barri-ers that hamper the realization of people’s right to health.  

He recommends that in order to ensure the enforcement of human rights treaties, countries should give sufficient recognition to the right to health in their political and legal mecha-nisms, including national constitutions. 

The Regional Director also recommends that countries should not only implement the primary health care approach in order to enhance universal access to primary care services, but also strive to ensure ethics in biomedical research by putting in place adequately re-sourced national and institutional ethics committees.

To reduce gender-related inequities, Dr Sambo says countries should systematically integrate a gender-based approach to the development of health sector strategies and other rel-evant national policies..

He adds that the triple challenge of marginalization, stigma and discrimination could be addressed through the establishment of mechanisms for multisectoral collaboration between different stakeholders - government ministries , parliamentary committees,  national human rights institutions and civil society. This will help ensure that the specific health care needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations are identified and addressed.

His final recommendation: countries should improve awareness about  and understanding of human rights and health by  ensuring that their medical curricula offer training and guidance on human rights in regard to both rights of health workers and the beneficiaries of health care  services.  Measures should also be taken to increase public awareness of these rights, with national human rights institutions, civil society and the general public playing an active role in programme implementation and monitoring.
_____________________________________________________________

For more information, please contact:  

Dr Marion Motari,  motarim [at] afro.who.int  tel: +47-241-39329

Samuel T. Ajibola, ajibolas [at] afro.who.int ; tel: +47-241-39378

C. Boakye-Agyemang  boakyec [at] afro.who.int;   tel: +472 413 9420, tel  (Angola) + 244 943801810

Health and human rights: Current situation and way forward in the African Region