This week another scandal in a long list of blunders by the ministry of health, played out when hundreds of Basotho seeking medical attention at the makeshift Queen Elizabeth II Hospital were turned back and couldn’t get the service they needed.
The reason? The hospital had failed to honour its financial obligations to a service provider and, after the courts’ intervention, the contractor was forced to lock up the park homes had installed to be used for patient consultation and administration purposes, among others.
Just a reminder, in December 2017, the director general of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.
He said the right to health for all people means that everyone should have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship; and that no one should get sick and die just because they are poor, or because they cannot access the health services they need.
In a similar vein the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights emphasises that “health is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights. Every human being is entitled to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health conducive to living a life in dignity.”
The right to health has a number of essential elements, namely availability, accessibility, quality and accountability.
In the light of the above, it is clear that the actions of government officials have led to the people’s right to health being violated. As a result, someone has to pay, somehow.
