right the has «eyeryone to of living a standard adequate for the health of himself and of his family, and services”. The and social necessary Social and eovenant on Economic, provides most the right to health comprehensive in international care medical housing including food, clothing, International Cultural human Rights on the rights law. article in accordance with article 12.1 of the Covenant, states parties recognize “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical enumerates, and mental health”, while article 12.2 by way of illustration, a number of “steps to be taken by the States parties ... to achieve the full realization of this right”. Additionally, the right to health is recognized, inter alia, in article 5 (e) (iv) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1965, in articles Yi,1 (f) and 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and in article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989. Several regional human rights in the preamble to the Constitution of WHO, which conceptualizes health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. However, the reference in article 12.1 of the Covenant to "the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” is not confined to the right to health care, On the contrary, the drafting history and the express wording of article 12.2 acknowledge that the right to health embraces a wide range of socioeconomic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as food and nutrition, housing, access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, safe and healthy working conditions, and a healthy environment. 5. The Committee is aware that, for millions of people throughout the world, the full enjoyment of the right to health still remains a distant goal. Moreover, in many cases, especially for those living in poverty, instruments also recognize the right to health, such as the European Social Charter of 1961 as revised (art. 11), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981 (art. 16) and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1988 (art. 10). Similarly, the right to health has been this proclaimed by the Commission on Human Rights’, as implementation well as in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993 and other international instruments.* of their reporting obligations, this General Comment focuses on the normative content of article 12 (Part |), States parties’ obligations (Part II), violations (Part lil) and implementation at the national level (Part 3. The right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill of Rights, including the rights to food, housing, work, education, human the dignity, prohibition to information, life, non-diScrimination, against and the torture, freedoms equality, privacy, did In drafting article 12 of the Covenant, the Third 2 3. not of the United adopt the Nations General definition becoming increasingly remote. The factors beyond the control of States that impede the full realization of article 12 in many States parties. 6. With a view to assisting States parties’ of the Covenant and the fulfilment IV), while the obligations of actors other than States parties are addressed in Part V. The General Comment is based on the Committee’s experience in examining States parties’ reports over many years. access assembly and movement. These and other rights and Committee is of association, freedoms address integral components of the right to health. 4. goal Committee recognizes the formidable structural and other obstacles resulting from international and other of health I. NORMATIVE CONTENT OF ARTICLE 12 7. Article 12.1 provides a definition of the right to health, while article 12.2 enumerates illustrative, nonexhaustive examples of States parties’ obligations. Assembly contained In its resolution 1989/11. The Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental IlIness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1991 (resolution 46/119) and the Committee's General Comment No. 5 on persons with disabilities apply to persons with mental illness; the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development held at Cairo in 1994, as well as the Declaration and Programme for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 contain definitions of reproductive health and women’s health, respectively, 8. The right to health is not to be understood as a right to be healthy. The right to health contains both freedoms and entitiements. The freedoms include the right to control one’s health and body, including sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from torture, non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation. By contrast, the entitlements include the right to a system which of health protection provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attainable level of health. GENERAL COMMENTS AND STATEMENTS 31