RIGHT TO HEALTH UNDER CONSTITUTION OF PAKISTAN: A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF STATE OBLIGATION

Abstract

Right to health is one of the universal human rights, a right that is the basic and crucial to the well-being and dignity of human beings. This paper evaluates the constitutive provisions in the right to health in Pakistan, It plays the key role that the state in guaranteeing the best possible standard of physical and mental health to its people. The Article 38(d) of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, states that the provision of basic needs, including medical relief, is a state responsibility. However this paper critically analyses the policy and legislative initiatives and steps that taken by Pakistan to meet its commitments and identifies loopholes and problems in their delivery. The paper also evaluates the contribution of judicial activism to the realization of the right to health, with landmark cases and the consequences of judicial activism on the advancement of the health policy. The present analysis is intended to contribute to the discussion on the justiciability of the right to health in Pakistan and to offer recommendations on how to improve the legal framework and state responsibility.