ABSTRACT
The right to health is generally classified as an economic and social right and guaranteed in international human rights instruments. Within the framework of the United Nations (UN), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) embraces not only civil and political rights, but also some economic, social and cultural rights. Articles 22 and 25 safeguard the right to social security and the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well being. The UDHR has been adopted as a General Assembly resolution and hence, strictly, lacks binding force in international law. Yet, a number of provisions embodied in the UDHR have evolved into customary international norms, and as such they are binding on all States. The question remains whether the provisions dealing with economic and social rights have generated rules of customary law.
