The right to health: reflections on its fundamentality

Abstract

The right to health protection, and all that underlies it, is a crucial thematic subject of intense debates in contemporary societies. Objective: We initiate a discussion, focusing on the portuguese case, about whether the right to health is a fundamental right subject to direct applicability or, conversely, is a social right and of progressive implementation. Methodology: critical and reflective thinking about the literature review carried out. Conclusion: The right to health is a universal right, that several others intersect and coexist with, like the dignity and inviolability of human life, and there is a core of direct applicability that should not be dependent on the political measures or on the availability of economic and financial resources.