Background

The right to health and other health-related rights have been enshrined in a number of international treaties, regional instruments, and national constitutions and laws. This has given rise to a significant body of cases decided by national courts and international and regional human rights bodies that interpret the content and State obligations of the right to health and other health-related rights, based on relevant human rights treaties and other legal instruments.

However, despite growing use of international, regional and domestic litigation to enforce and interpret rights in health related-matters, there is no comprehensive collection and categorization of health and human rights judgments. In response, the Lawyers Collective and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law—working with over 100 partners globally, including NGOs, academics and private researchers—collaborated to bring together judgments, instruments, and constitutions involving health and human rights in a single Global Health and Human Rights Database.