Volume: Volume 17 - 2013

Article type: Refereed article

Author/s: Durojaye, Ebenezer

This article examines the right to health guaranteed under the African Human Rights system and the approaches the African Commission has adopted in interpreting the content of this right. The article starts by examining in detail the provisions of the right to health under international human rights law and then discusses the provisions of the African Charter and African Women's Protocol. It further discusses the various approaches the African Commission has adopted in interpreting these provisions in some of its decisions and their importance in advancing the right to health in the region. The article also examines some of the important non-binding resolutions and General Comments of the African Commission relating to the right to health and their significance in advancing this right in the region. The article concludes by arguing that, while national courts can learn from the approaches adopted by the African Commission in interpreting the right to health guaranteed under the Charter and the African Women's Protocol, the Commission can equally benefit from the decisions of some national courts.

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