Mary Ann Torres LL

Mary Ann Torres LL.M., University of Toronto, 2000

“ A Discussion of the Aspects of the Right to Health Under National and International Law in Venezuela.”

Abstract

This thesis analyses the importance of human rights in the context of the AIDS pandemic, specifically addressing medical treatment for HIV/AIDS as fundamental to the exercise of the right to health and the right to life. The two are so interconnected that a meaningful analysis of one must include the other. The thesis analyses the Venezuelan Supreme Court decision in the 1999 Bermudez, et al. v. Ministry of Health. The thesis argued that, in that case, since the State did not provide treatment for those with HIV/AIDS, it was violating individuals’ right to health and their right to life. Although the right to health is enshrined in the Venezuelan Constitution and in international treaties, the enabling social, economic and legal conditions necessary for the exercise of this right are often missing. In conclusion, even though international human rights law has become an effective set of rules on which to base national and international public health strategies towards AIDS, the right to health remains unprotected, especially in the developing world.