By Alice Etuka, Abuja
World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria Country Representative, Dr. Walter Mulombo has said, any health deprivation should be treated as human rights violation.
Mulombo stated this on Monday, April 8, 2024 while fielding questions from journalists after a health walk to commemorate this year’s World Health Day in Abuja.
He explained that the World Health Day celebration was a remembrance of the creation of WHO and the principle upon which it was created:
“76 years ago as part of the United Nation, WHO was created by Member States based on the principle of human rights and based on the fact that health is a fundamental human right and it shouldn’t be a privilege.
“There have been many agreement, including agreements at the very high level of government and there is an agreement that health is a prerequisite.
Health is a means and health is an outcome.
“We’ve all seen some achievement over the year starting with the eradication of smallpox and other diseases coming to add to the list.
“But today is an opportunity to remember that any health deprivation, should be treated as human rights violation. A child missing vaccination is a human rights violation. A mother dying while giving birth is not acceptable and should be treated as human rights violation.
“Not only when somebody is killed out of the judiciary system, any deprivation to health is human rights violation and we are taking this opportunity to be deliberate in monitoring health through human rights lens”, he said.
On her part, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Kachollom Daju said, “this walk is to create awareness that it is every citizen’s right to go to the hospital and have his/herself attended to by the doctor, community health worker and a medical professional and we are ensuring that the drugs that are given to our citizens have quality.
She added that the Federal Government, in collaboration with WHO had been able to achieve a lot.
According to her, “in the present administration of the Renewed Hope, the health sector is being reinvigorated, it has been reengineered to ensure that we have Universal Health Coverage for all, starting from the Primary Health Care at the community level, all the way to the Tertiary level”.
