There is an evident contradiction between what has been stated in Guidelines, Declarations and other international documents and actual facts. Already in WHO statutes, valid since 1948, "enjoying the maximum degree of health possible" is recognized as "one of the fundamental human rights". In present world there are countries in which life expectancy is near 80 years while in others 8 of 10 persons die before 60: the difference of what is "possible" is too big to be accepted. In order to reduce this distance an articulate strategy is necessary in three dimensions: to rethink the relation between legal and moral rights, which avoids to confine social rights simply to the good will or beneficence field; to raise health care golden standard, even in countries with minor available resources, rejecting the idea that the difference lies in an insuperable principle; and a global approach to diverse factors that, determining quality of life and personal and social relations, they also contribute to establish health levels, as well as ways and goals of the therapeutic relation itself.
Keywords:
rights, development, equality, equity, justice, health care, double standard
Author Biography
Stefano Semplici, Universidad de Roma
Departamento de Investigación Filosófica de la Universidad de Roma "Tor Vergata"
Semplici, S. (2010). The "highest level possible". An asymmetric right. Acta Bioethica, 16(2). Retrieved from https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/AB/article/view/15614
