THE RIGHT TO HEALTH IN PRISON: RESULTS OF A NATIONWIDE SURVEY AND REPORT distinction of race, religion, and political belief, economic or social condition.” 2.13 The concept of the right to health was cited again two years later in 1948 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)22. Article 25(1) of the UDHR affirmed 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, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” 2.14 The WHO definition was subsequently broadened by the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata on Primary Health Care.23 The Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 emerged as a major milestone of the twentieth century in the field of public health, and it identified primary health care as the key to the attainment of the goal of Health for all. The Declaration endorsed the WHO definition of the right to health in the following terms: “The Conference strongly reaffirms that health, which is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right and that the attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important world-wide social goal whose realization requires the action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector.” The Right to Health under the United Nations Human Rights Treaty System 2.15 From the earliest formulations of the WHO Constitution and subsequently the UDHR, the right to health was incorporated in core International Human Rights Treaties adopted since. 2.16 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 (ICESCR), considered as the primary instrument of protection for the right to health recognises “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations, setting out for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Accessed via http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ on 17/2/2016. 23 Declaration of Alma-Ata: International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma-Ata, USSR, 6-12 September 1978 accessed via http://www.who.int/publications/almaata_declaration_en.pdf on 16/2/2016. 22 15