Health as a Human Right

An in-depth critical analysis of the effects of the right to health in Brazil over the past thirty years.

This book will appeal to people interested in the effects that recognising health as a human right in law can have on the health conditions of the population. It tells the story of how, against all odds, health became a right in Brazil in 1988 and its effects since then.Does human rights law work? This book engages in this heated debate through a detailed analysis of thirty years of the right to health - perhaps the most complex human right - in Brazil. Are Brazilians better off three decades after the enactment of the right to health in the 1988 Constitution? Has the flurry of litigation experienced in Brazil helped or harmed the majority of the population? This book offers an in-depth analysis of these complex and controversial questions grounded on a wealth of empirical data. The book covers the history of the recognition of health as a human right in the 1988 Constitution through the Sanitary Movement's campaign and the subsequent three decades of what Ferraz calls the politics and judicialization of health. It challenges positions of both optimists and sceptics of human rights law and will be of interest to those looking for a more nuanced analysis.