The right to the highest attainable standard of health: An ethos in search of a profession

The Magna Carta of health rights is Article 12 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, along with its General Comment 14 - a sixty five paragraph explication that exhaustively defines states¹ obligations, health entitlements, and their ethical implementation using human rights principles. All human rights, but especially the right to the highest attainable standard of health, are interdependent and indivisible. The adoption of the ethos by health professionals, which comprises a recognition of the pivotal importance of respect for all human rights in the battle to preserve health, and a commitment to promote human rights to that end, will inevitably involve a change in the culture of healthcare delivery.