14. In addition to what is set out in relevant international resolutions foremost of which are the
outcomes of the international conference concerned with primary healthcare, which resulted in the
Alma-Ata Declaration Issued in September 1978 which emphasized the decisive role of primary
healthcare that is addressed to the main health problems in society, and the provision of promotional,
preventive and therapeutic services, and the rehabilitation services, and it underscored that access
to primary healthcare is the key to attaining a standard of health that allows all persons to live a life
that is productive, socially and economically, and that primary healthcare is the basic step towards
achieving the highest health standard attainable.
15. As to the national level, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain guaranteed in Article No.
(8) thereof the right to health, where Paragraph (a) thereof states: “Every citizen is entitled to
health care. The State cares for public health and the State ensures the means of prevention
and treatment by establishing a variety of hospitals and healthcare institutions”, and it was also
followed by Paragraph (b) which states: “Individuals and bodies may establish private hospitals,
clinics or treatment centres under the supervision of the State and in accordance with the law.”.
16. In compliance with this the Bahraini legislator devoted care to the right to health through enacting
a number of legislations, most prominently: Decree-Law No. (4) of 1973 as amended concerning
Controlling The Use And Circulation Of Narcotic Substances And Preparations and their use, and
Law No. (3) of 1975 as amended concerning public health, which contains an elucidation of the
health violations, the mechanisms for dealing with them and health conditions, while showing
the method of overseeing the public sources of water, and supervision of health facilities, hotels,
restaurants and the general condition, and the penalties associated with the violations, and the
Decree-Law No. (14) of 1977 concerning the health precautions to prevention of infectious diseases,
and Decree-Law No. (3) of 1985 concerning monitoring imported foods, and Decree-Law No.
(7) of 1989 concerning practicing the medical profession and dentistry, and Decree-Law No. (4)
of 1995 concerning supervision of the use, marketing and promotion of alternatives to mother’s
milk, and Decree-Law (18) of 1997 concerning the regulation of the Pharmaceutical Profession and
Pharmaceutical centers as amended, and Decree-Law No. (16) of 1998 concerning the transfer and
implant of human organs, and Decree-Law No. 17) of 1998 amending some of the provisions of the
Decree-Law No. (6) of 1970 Regulation of Registration of Births and Deaths, and Law No. (26) of 2006
approving accession to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), Law
No. (8) of 2009 concerning prevention of smoking and tobaccos of various kinds, and Law No. (25)
of 2009 approving the accession of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the International Labour Convention
No. (155) of 1981 concerning Occupational Safety and Health and Working Environment.
17. The National Institution lauds in this regard the enactment of Law No. (1) of 2017 concerning
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and protecting those person living with it, where
the Law includes provisions which in their totality address the rights of people living with the
HIV virus, and emphasizes that they enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the
international conventions ratified by the State and the laws in effect, while each action or refrainment
constituting discrimination towards them is prohibited, or which leads to a diminution of their
dignity or rights or their exploitation due to affliction irrespective of race and age group, in addition
to a statement of the obligations shouldered by those coexisting with the HIV virus.
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