Around 140 countries recognize health as a human right in their ConstitutionAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO) Council on the Economics of Health for All, nearly 4.500 billion people (more than half the world's population) were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021, demonstrating a lack of legislation being passed and implemented to guarantee access to healthcare for these populations.
To address this challenge, the WHO proposes commemorating World Health Day 2024 under the theme "My health, my right"This year's theme was chosen to defend the right of everyone, everywhere, to have access to quality health, education and information services, as well as to drinking water, clean air, good nutrition, quality housing, decent environmental and working conditions, and to no longer be discriminated against.
The right to the highest attainable standard of health It is fundamental and possible when there is no distinction based on race, gender, religion, political orientation, or economic or social status, thus achieving maximum efficiency and effectiveness in the care provided. The right to health and other rights are inextricably linked to this. equity, and in turn reflect and help to reinforce the social solidarity.
Worldwide, The right to health of millions of people is increasingly threatenedDiseases and disasters are major causes of death and disability. Conflicts devastate lives and cause death, suffering, hunger, and psychological distress.
The International Conference held by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Alma Ata in 1978 recognized the Primary Health Care (PHC) as one of the fundamental components of an effective health system, health as a fundamental human right and the achievement of the highest possible level of health as a supremely important social goal worldwide, the realization of which requires the intervention of many other social and economic sectors, in addition to the health sector.
Progress has not been as expected in these 46 years since Alma Ata, Since half the world's population still lacks access to quality basic health services, including care for communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, and mental health, deaths continue to occur from diseases that could be prevented with adequate health coverage and access. Furthermore, many health interventions remain focused on biomedical models and the treatment of specific diseases, prioritizing curative services over health promotion and prevention, instead of strengthening health systems with a holistic approach.
Experiences in developed and developing countries demonstrate that Primary health care (PHC) can be interpreted and adapted to a wide variety of political, social, cultural, and economic contexts.Therefore, it is necessary to address the issue of the Right to Health from the Social Determinants of Health approach And this implies recognizing the complex situations that condition the health-disease-care process of people, paying special attention to those aspects that make it possible to strengthen it.
Understanding health as a collective right, which goes beyond the absence of disease, requires that those of us who work in the field of primary care be present in the territory, with the community, framing their actions, allowing to understand the socio-health reality of which we are all a part, fostering encounters, the development of critical thinking, respect for local knowledge, the building of solidarity ties and the leading role of people in the reconstruction of an active, present State that guarantees the rights of all.
A primary health care approach is an essential condition to address the social determinants of health and achieve the best possible quality of health care for each person and their family. This strategy proposes to provide a comprehensive response to health problems. It means doing everything possible to alleviate people's daily suffering, but we must recognize health as a basic human capacity, a prerequisite that allows people to realize their life projects, an indispensable element in building a healthy society.
(*) Professor in the Medicine program at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Medical Director of the “Las Lilas” Health Post. Deputy Director of the General and Family Medicine Specialization Program at the Universidad Austral.
