169. The Court further notes that in Purohit and Moore v Gambia, the Commission noted the centrality of the right to health to the enjoyment of other rights. The Commission found that “[e]njoyment of the human right to health as it is widely known is vital to all aspects of a person's life and wellbeing, and is crucial to the realisation of all the other fundamental human rights and freedoms. This right includes the right to health facilities, access to goods and services to be guaranteed to all without discrimination of any kind.54 The Commission reiterated this principle in its decision in Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Internight v. Egypt.55 170. Similarly, in the SERAC v. Nigeria, a case concerning environmental pollution, the Commission held that “[g]overnments have a duty to protect their citizens, not only through appropriate legislation and effective enforcement, but also by protecting them from damaging acts that may be perpetrated by private parties”. 56 171. The Court considers that the right to health presupposes the existence of the following essential and interrelated elements: availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality.57 The State is in breach of its obligations if it fails to take all necessary measures to protect persons within its jurisdiction from infringements of the right to health by third parties.58 172. In the present case, the Court notes that following the dumping of toxic waste and its effects on the health of thousands of people, the Respondent State took a number of urgent measures to ensure that the victims received medical treatment. 59 However, these measures were either insufficient or inadequate to meet the needs of all victims and the scale of the 54 ACHPR, Communication no. 241/01, Purohit and Moore v. The Gambia, 29 May 2003, § 80. ACHPR, Communication No. 233/06, Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights and INTERIGHTS v. Egypt, 16 December 2011, § 261. 56 ACHPR, Communication No. 155/96 - Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) and Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) v. Nigeria, 27 October 2001, § 57. 57 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 14, The right to the highest attainable standard of health (Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), 11 August 2000, §12. 58Ibid § § 51. 59 Amnesty International and Greenpeace report, September 2012, p. 65. 55 43

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