“regarding the quality of the service, [...] health facilities must have satisfactory conditions
of hygiene and trained medical personnel.” 53
29.
In this analysis, the Inter-American Court referred expressly to different international
instruments, resolutions and sources that regulate or have direct implications for the
protection of the right to health:
(i) Article 26 of the American Convention on Human Rights; 54
(ii) Article 10 of the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights
in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Ecuador on March 25, 1993,
which establishes that everyone shall have the right to health, understood to mean the
enjoyment of the highest level of physical, mental and social well-being, and indicates that
health is a public good. 55
(iii) Article XI of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, which
indicates that every person has the right “to the preservation of his health through sanitary
and social measures relating to […] medical care, to the extent permitted by public and
community resources”; 56
(iv) Article 45 of the Charter of the Organization of American States, when stating
that the Member States are required “[t]o dedicate every effort to the [… d]evelopment of
an efficient social security policy”; 57
(v) Article 12 del International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 58
(vi) The Social Charter of the Americas of June 2012, adopted by the General
Assembly of the Organization of American States, which emphasizes the quality of the
health establishments, goods and services, which require the presence of qualified medical
personnel, as well as satisfactory conditions of hygiene; 59
(vii) The Progress Indicators in Respect of Rights Contemplated in the Protocol of
San Salvador. 60 o
53
Para. 152 of the Judgment.
54
Footnote 176 [Nota: not 176] of the Judgment. This note refers to the mention made to the OAS Charter
in para. 131, from which the Inter-American Court derives the right to health; although I consider that it should
have considered article 34(i) of the OAS Charter.
55
Cf. para. 131 of the Judgment. The Case of Vera Vera et al., supra, para. 43, is cited.
56
Cf. para. 131 of the Judgment.
57
Cf. para. 131 of the Judgment.
58
Cf. para. 152 of the Judgment.
59
Cf. para. 131, in fine, of the Judgment.
60
Cf. Footnote 172 of the Judgment: Organization of American States, Progress Indicators in Respect of
Rights Contemplated in the Protocol of San Salvador, adopted by the General Assembly, Resolution 2713 (XLII0/12), forty-second regular session, Cochabamba, Bolivia, June 2012, paras. 66 and 67. In footnote 172 of the
Judgment, the Inter-American Court transcribes part of this document: “The Protocol refers to observance of the
right in the framework of a health system that, however basic it may be, should ensure access to primary health
care and the progressive development of a system that provides coverage to the country’s entire population. […]
as well as being culturally acceptable, health facilities, goods and services must also be scientifically and medically
appropriate and of good quality. This requires, inter alia, skilled medical personnel, scientifically approved and
unexpired drugs and hospital equipment, safe and potable water, and adequate sanitation.” In addition, the said
indicators include: “Existence of administrative instances to submit complaints in matters of non-compliance with
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