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ACHPR
African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Hiqhts
174.
Human Rights our
Collective Responsibility
Article 16 (1) of the Charter provides that "Every individual shall have the right to
enjoy the best attainable state of health." Article:16 (2) provides that "State Parties to the
present shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of their people and to ensure that
they receive medical attention when they are SiCk'll,
175.
The scope and application of the Article 16 of the Charter has been clearly
espoused
by
the
Commission
.
in
its !Principles
and
I
I
Guidelines
,.,' ,.
~.;.
.~.
<
,'~-"
on
the
~
Implementation of ECOSOC Rights in the African Ch~rteii::(jrfHuman and Peoples'
.
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Rights (the Guidelines) of 2011 wherein i1 inter{,dli~{,~:~~tes I;'t~~,right to health is an
inclusive right that encompasses both health care and the unae.rly.i.1J&~etermirul1}ts ofhealih."
It also sets out the minimum core obliga .' I
state of physical and mental health ~Di
','
s t~;~ij~~;~"'th~~:b~~~'~atf~~nable
.
',.
,~
~
g others;;(~g:r,Wg the right of
1
~ .
access to health facilities, goods Cl:p,<q.!:~r~ice1
onA",\;,!,;$,,:,-discriminatory'basis,
especially
for vulnerable or marginal~\~edgrouP~';,:;'I~J
Purohi~:~~~~,Moore v The Gambia, the
Commission stated that/5eiL!:4~rent
of th~1;hi,t;~~~:F
righi'1&\;g~fltth as it is widely known is
vital to all aspects ~,+,~f;?~:s1if~~fl?k!leli~+~gf¥'JR~i~}ltcial
to the realisation of all the
other [undamentatiiuman
the right to health facilities,
rig11.tsand ft~e#qrns. ThisrigIzfincludes
access to goods a~i services. to be guara~~.J4tQJ~II"rvit~u t discrimination of any kind."
176,
The SecOl1"P1<;::omplainant
subl;p.itst4,'C;lt
her right to health was violated because
!;\Y~Ji,i'~:";'.,
'~1:l
~/
,
sh~:~as diagnosea.;'. ' 'Jh tumours i~ both. breasts but not given adequate care and
tre~tm~'lit o/):lilstin de
'
:~~[!'contributed to a significant deterioration of her
healt~\~h~'~i's~:;~ubJ,nitsthat her conditions of detention were inappropriate and she
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suffereddelays
in recei'v;img
~,
~.. treatment. She received inappropriate post-operative care
\
,
,
and insufficient medication and was not transferred to an appropriate specialist
establishmeri~'f8Ptreatment and care, was not given follow -up appointments as they
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were cancelled~'was not seen by any medically trained personnel post the operation
I
and her medical file declared lost
upon a, request from the Commission to make it
.
available. She further submits that as a result of the poor treatment and care and the
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horrendous living conditions in the prison, she was suffering ~0~
,
£o~~~1'~RIAr
typhoid, chronic gastritis and sinusitis a~ the time she was
2015. She relied amongst others on the
56 I P age
Af;l;;n~~~
Union\Q!w.
~>,rna,
. o~
tram ., iso~lI.• ;.
sion 0 ,Human <!Jid'P~opies'
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/~Ight~
31 Bijilo Anne ,'1:!Y,Out7{l¥"mbo.Nor!.WDilQ3CjU
The African
Commi
'est Co'as! ~egl0n ~Yj~lW~
Phone: (220} 2~O4, ,~~EJ6.J~€CU\45:1:P.&'i"'4
Email: au ..5af.1ltJl~?fflea:;;l:Jii(on,orE
https:/achpr,au.int/l'
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