Right to Health in Brazil: A Study of the Treaty-Reporting System
Sur International Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 9, No. 17, December 2012
33 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2013
Date Written: October 1, 2012
Abstract
This article analyzes the Brazilian State treaty-reporting system, particularly its role as monitoring the realization of the right to health. We conducted a thorough study of the Brazilian system by analyzing the legal competencies of the agents responsible for the treaty-reporting process and the governmental agents’ perception of this process. Finally, we analyze the two Brazilian Reports (2001 and 2007) submitted to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). Our analysis focuses on article 12 (right to health) and is structured according to the report’s contents and based upon General Comment No. 14. We conclude there is a gap between the CESCR’s requirements and the content of Brazil’s reports. We stress that, in the public health field, Brazil has not adequately accomplished its reporting commitments. Consequently, effective measures must be adopted to address these deficiencies in order to avoid the conclusion that Brazil’s human rights commitments are nothing more than a political strategy attempting to occupy relevant international positions in a cosmopolitan arena.
Keywords: Treaty-reporting system, Right to health, National Human Rights Institutions
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