2019-2023: The (human) right to health (care) and the obligations of states and firms in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ambizione Grant - Swiss National Foundation - Thierry Ngosso

Health outcomes vary profoundly and remain highly unequal depending on one’s country of birth. Sub-Saharan African countries continue to be the poor relative in this respect. While many in the global North enjoy a longer and healthier life in part due to better access to health care, most Sub-Saharan African citizens are still subject to shorter lifespans and face daily suffering and diseases without having access to adequate health care. With the persistence of this health (care) gap, worsened in recent years by the exponential ‘brain drain’ of African health workers, it appears that simply framing health (care) as a (human) right has not translated into positive outcomes for many African citizens. Can a focus on the African continent and its contextual nuances help advance this debate regarding both the definition and the justification of health (care) as a (human) right on one hand and on the other both the obligations of states and corporations from African societies themselves.