Right to Health in Human Rights Law and Right to Health in Ancient Sri Lanka: an Overview

Right to health is a basic human right accepted by the international human rights instruments such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The right to health is considered as inseparable or indivisible right from other rights. The World Health organization (WHO) had set out basic standards on health and States had taken steps to safeguard the right to health of people of their countries by providing necessary health facilities. The present generation enjoys the right to health with well-organized health care system and Constitutions of some countries guarantee the right to health as a human right, though the Constitution of Sri Lanka has not explicitly included the said rights as a fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. Hence, it is worthwhile to examine the ancient health system and medical facilities in Sri Lanka with regard to the right to health. Thus, this study seeks to overview the right to health in ancient Sri Lanka in historical perspective and right to health in present context considering contemporary human rights discourse. The position of right to health in present context under human rights law and the position of right to health in ancient Sri Lanka was the problem of this research. This research was done as a desk research based on secondary data. Study findings reveal in comparison to the present context, people in ancient Sri Lanka enjoyed the right to health and there was a well-developed and well-organized health care system and medical facilities in ancient Sri Lanka similar to the present health care system.