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Health<br />

The state shall secure the well-being of the people, irrespective of<br />

sex, caste, creed and race ... provide basic necessities of life, such as ...<br />

medical relief, for all such citizens, irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race,<br />

as are permanently or temporarily unable to earn their livelihood on account<br />

of infirmity, sickness or unemployment. ...<br />

Constitution of Pakistan<br />

Article 38(a) and (d)<br />

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health<br />

and well being of himself and of his family, including ... medical care and<br />

necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of<br />

unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of<br />

livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.<br />

Universal Declaration of Human Rights<br />

Article 25(1)<br />

There are 115 countries in the world which guarantee the “right to health”<br />

as a basic human right to its citizens; Pakistan is not one of them. The<br />

responsibility of the state to ensure health and adequate medical services does<br />

receive a mention in the Principles of Policy in the Constitution of Pakistan.<br />

The primary problem with this is that Principles of Policy are not directly<br />

enforceable, and a citizen cannot petition a court to have this particular right<br />

enforced by the state.<br />

The health sector in 2012 continued to present a dismal picture. The<br />

failure can perhaps be classified in three broad threads. First is resource<br />

allocation, which in essence is how much budgetary allocation the health sector<br />

233<br />

State of Human Rights in 2012

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