Limitations on Universality: The 'Right to Health' and the Necessity of Legal Nationality

LIMITATIONS ON UNIVERSALITY: THE 'RIGHT TO HEALTH' AND THE NECESSITY OF LEGAL NATIONALITY, Vol. 10, No. 11, Lindsey N. Kingston, Elizabeth F. Cohen and Christopher P. Morley, eds., BMC International Health and Human Rights, 2010

Western Political Science Association 2010 Annual Meeting Paper

38 Pages Posted: 29 Mar 2010 Last revised: 11 Feb 2011

See all articles by Lindsey Kingston

Lindsey Kingston

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Elizabeth F. Cohen

Department of Political Science, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

Christopher P. Morley

SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Family Medicine

Date Written: February 9, 2010

Abstract

The right to health, including access to basic healthcare, has been recognized as a universal human right through a number of international agreements. Attempts to protect this ideal, however, have relied on states as the guarantor of rights and have subsequently ignored stateless individuals, or those lacking legal nationality in any nation-state. While a legal nationality alone is not sufficient to guarantee that a right to health care is accessible, an absence of any legal nationality is almost certainly a obstacle in most cases. There are millions of so-called stateless individuals around the globe - usually members of racial or ethnic minority groups - who are, in effect, denied medical citizenship in their countries of residence. A central motivating factor for this essay is the fact statelessness as a concept is largely absent from the medical and human rights literature. The goal for this discussion, therefore, is primarily to illustrate the need for further monitoring of health access issues by the medical and human rights communities, and for a great deal more research into the effects of statelessness upon access to healthcare. This is important both as a theoretical issue, in light of the recognition by many of healthcare as a universal right, as well as an empirical fact that requires further exploration and amelioration.

Keywords: human rights, global health, citizenship, vulnerable populations, stateless

JEL Classification: I12,I18

Suggested Citation

Kingston, Lindsey and Cohen, Elizabeth F. and Morley, Christopher P., Limitations on Universality: The 'Right to Health' and the Necessity of Legal Nationality (February 9, 2010). LIMITATIONS ON UNIVERSALITY: THE 'RIGHT TO HEALTH' AND THE NECESSITY OF LEGAL NATIONALITY, Vol. 10, No. 11, Lindsey N. Kingston, Elizabeth F. Cohen and Christopher P. Morley, eds., BMC International Health and Human Rights, 2010 , Western Political Science Association 2010 Annual Meeting Paper , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1580917

Lindsey Kingston

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Elizabeth F. Cohen

Department of Political Science, Maxwell School, Syracuse University ( email )

Syracuse, NY 13244
United States

Christopher P. Morley (Contact Author)

SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Family Medicine ( email )

College of Health Professions
Department of Physical Therapy
Syracuse, NY 13210
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.upstate.edu/fmed/research.php

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