Right to Health

Health is a human right, but one that is still not guaranteed for more than a billion people. The health inequalities that persist today hinder social, economic, and sustainable development. Switzerland views essential healthcare as a key requirement for economic and social development. It also considers the inequities in the provision of essential healthcare to be an unacceptable violation of fundamental human rights. Improving the health of the world's poorest has a direct link to Goal 3 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which applies to all countries.

In these areas, SDC focuses on good governance, strengthening the role and ownership of communities and health service users, strengthening health systems with the aim of providing healthcare services for all, and improving sexual and reproductive health and rights as well as maternal and child health.

Video of a right to health project supported by SDC

• Recommended Readings

  • Bringing Justice to HIV

    The discriminatory use of criminal law to target people living with HIV has resulted in grave human rights violations. It undermines access to services and risks jeopardizing our goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

    PDF186.39 kB1 January 2019

  • Demanding access to justice: Spearheading the establishment of the Coalition of Lawyers for Human Rights in Nigeria

    Discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Nigeria are far too common. Human rights violations against LGBTI people are fuelled by coercive and discriminatory legislation: same-sex sexual relations are criminalized in the country, and in some states in northern Nigeria where Shari’a law is applied, these acts are punishable by death

    PDF123.30 kB1 January 2019

  • Elimination without violation: Supporting women living with HIV in putting human rights at the centre of validating the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV

    Cuba, with its highly developed health-care infrastructure and universal health coverage, had reduced the rate of HIV transmission from mother to child to about 2% and eliminated congenital syphilis by 2012, following a concerted effort with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (6). Cuba requested validation of status of elimination in late 2013, before the WHO guidelines had been finalized, becoming a pioneer for the process as a result.

    PDF157.95 kB1 January 2019

  • Inequality Monitoring In Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child And Adolescent Health: A step-by-step manual

    The manual is a practical introductory guide to strengthen and build capacity for quantitative inequality monitoring in SRMNCAH. It guides users through the processes of setting the scope for inequality monitoring, deciding on the best available data for monitoring, performing data analysis, and reporting findings.

    PDF2.89 MB1 January 2022

  • Mobility and Stability

    Since 2014, the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela has been the source of a major migratory movement that has spread across Latin America and the Caribbean. Migrants face intersecting vulnerabilities to HIV and barriers to accessing health care that require interagency, cross-border responses. Governments, civil society organizations and communities, supported by the un joint programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) and other united nations agencies, are working within the country and across the region to address these vulnerabilities, realize migrants’ right to health and end the aids epidemic.

    PDF238.19 kB1 January 2019

  • My Right, My Health

    The just rule of law is a critical social determinant of people’s health and well-being. The period from 2008 to 2018 saw fundamental shifts in the legal environment in Malawi for people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV. This casestudy examines the factors leading to change in Malawi, including the critical role played by civil society organizations, the inspiring advocacy of women living with HIV, the strategic dialogues among communities, parliamentarians and government representatives, and the technical assistance and high-level advocacy with the support of the UNAIDS Joint Programme.

    PDF327.92 kB1 January 2019

  • Power, Privilege and Priorities

    Inequalities in health deeply touch people’s ability to pursue their life aspirations and to realise their human rights. However, the right to health is not equally realised by all. We can do better. Inequalities in health, and denials of human rights, can be a matter of life and death for women, girls and gender non-conforming individuals. Harmful gender stereotypes continue to exist and directly influence people’s bodily autonomy, risks of ill health and early death.

    PDF3.43 MB1 January 2020

  • Sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV

    Early and forced marriage, forced sterilization, criminalization of mother-to-child HIV transmission and forced abortion—as well as inequality, repressive gender roles and intimate partner violence—have been identified as deep-rooted factors that limit the control that women and girls have over their own sexuality, health and rights.

    PDF190.83 kB1 January 2019

  • Snapshot of gender equality across the Sustainable Development Goals

    Between 2000 and 2020, maternal mortality declined by one third globally, from 339 to 223 deaths per 100,000 live births, but progress has stalled since 2015. Find gender aggregated health data on page 10.

    PDF1.71 MB1 January 2023