Health (Right to)

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Alyne da Silva Pimentel v. Brazil (Communication No. 17/2008)

Alyne Pimentel, an Afro-Brazilian woman, died at 28 years old of complications resulting from her pregnancy, after a health center in Rio de Janeiro failed to provide for appropriate and timely access to emergency obstetric care. Pimentel's death could have been prevented, if the health center had correctly diagnosed and treated her for intrauterine fetal death. Pimentel's death is not an isolated case.

Alliance for Open Society International and others v. USAID and others

Under the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act ("Leadership Act"), U.S. based organizations receiving funding for life-saving HIV prevention work abroad were required to pledge their opposition to prostitution. Furthermore, on 23 July 2007, USAID and the U.S.

Decision T-974/10. Writ for the protection of constitutional rights. Piedad Cristina Peña, on behalf of her daughter, María Alejandra Villa, vs. Entidad Promotora de Salud (EPS) Coomeva. File T-2.500.563

The mother of an intellectually disabled girl initiated a tutela action because her daughter had been diagnosed with cognitive deficit and microcephaly, and she could not afford the recommended integrated program of therapy and special education. The Constitutional Court accepted to review the case and ordered EPS Coomeva to coordinate with local education agencies to obtain a comprehensive medical assessment of the minor, as well as to determine the medical and educational services required for her disability.

May 10, 2011 NESRI: victory for universal health care in U.S.

Last week, Vermont passed the first-ever universal health care bill in the U.S., creating a path toward a publicly financed system that will provide health care as a public good for all.

March 31, 2011: Letter from Human Rights NGOs to Officials on Security and Health Situation in Egyptian Prisons

Read a new letter from ESCR-Net member on the security and health situation in Egyptian prisons.

Mendoza Beatriz Silva et al vs. State of Argentina et al on damages (damages resulting from environmental pollution of Matanza/Riachuelo river). File M. 1569. XL

In July 2004, a group of residents of the Matanza/Riachuelo basin filed a suit before the Supreme Court of Argentina against the national government, the Province of Buenos Aires, the City of Buenos Aires and 44 companies seeking compensation for damages resulting from pollution of the basin, stoppage of contaminating activities, and remedy for collective environmental damage.

Laxmi Mandal v. Deen Dayal Harinagar Hospital & Ors, W.P.(C) Nos. 8853 of 2008

This case was brought on behalf of Shanti Devi, a women living in poverty from a Scheduled Caste, after she died as the result of being refused adequate maternal healthcare despite the fact that she qualified for the free services under existing state-sponsored schemes. In 2008, Shanti Devi was forced to carry a dead fetus in her womb for five days after being denied medical treatment at several hospitals because her husband was unable to show a valid ration card for medical services, despite being qualified for one as they lived below the poverty line.

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) v. Sudan, Communication 296/2005

Since February 2003, following the emergence of an armed conflict in the Darfur region of the Sudan, militiamen known as Janjaweed have engaged in forcibly evicting, killing, and raping thousands of Black indigenous people in that region. The complainants alleged these acts were a failure of the government of Sudan to respect and protect the rights of the people of Darfur and in particular violated articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12 (1), 14, 16, 18 (1) and 22 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. In affirming admissibility of the complaint, the Commission quoted its decisi

Case No 2457/64 Challenging the New Drug Pricing System

The lawsuit was filed in the name of three staff members at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) because the new system threatened the accessibility and affordability of drugs in Egypt, especially the price of generic drugs, which Egyptian citizens rely heavily due to their relative low cost. Previous to this decree, the price of generic drugs was determined on the basis of the actual production cost, plus profit mark-ups.

June 16, 2010: Media Mobilizing Project launch TV show

Watch the first episode of MMP TV, "Infection in Our Health Care System," an hour-long investigation into the local impacts of the healthcare crisis in Philadelphia.