Health care, long-term care and sickness benefits
Health coverage, and particularly access to health care when it is needed, is crucial for human well-being. In addition, of all the elements of social protection, health care is most essential to the economy as a whole and to economic recovery in particular. Against this background, health protection schemes and systems that are well designed and implemented, and are embedded in appropriate economic and labour market policies, have the potential to recover large parts of their costs at the national level. Thus, both the population and the economy are beneficiaries of investments in social health protection.
Given the critical importance of the right to the highest achievable standard of health for individuals, as well as for the social and economic development of the societies in which they live in, it is important that countries and development partners across the world be aligned in support of the objective of establishing universal coverage.
Photo credit: “Providing healthcare and hope in Afghanistan” by DFID – UK Department for International Development (CCBY 2.0 via Flickr).
Expert Commentaries
Unpacking the ILO’s Social Protection Floor Recommendation (2012) from a Women’s Rights Perspective
ILO and the right to social security: implicit assumptions about women The twentieth century witnessed the development of national social security and social protection mechanisms aimed at providing economic, social and public answers to address social risks. Social security schemes were based on the assumption that either women were to behave like male workers in […]
Principl
Persons living with HIV/AIDS or other chronic illnesses
When individuals and communities are able to realize their rights — to education, social security, information and, most importantly, non-discrimination — the personal and societal impacts of HIV and AIDS and other chronic illnesses are reduced. Often persons living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses often face difficulties in accessing social protection benefits including […]
Equality and Non-discrimination
Non-discrimination and equality are core elements of the international human rights normative framework. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that every human being is entitled to all rights and freedoms “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, […]
Legal Instrum toents
Ley 19.505 que concede permiso especial a trabajadores en caso de enfermedad grave de sus hijos.
Establece que los padres tendrán permiso para ausentarse de su trabajo por el número de horas equivalentes a 10 jornadas ordinarias de trabajo al año, distribuidas a elección de ella en jornadas completas, en el caso de que la salud de un menor de 18 años requiera la atención personal en caso de accidente grave […]
Decreto supremo N° 2480
Instituye el “Subsidio Universal Prenatal por la vida” para las mujeres gestantes que no están registradas en ningún ente gestor del seguro social de corto plazo, con la finalidad de mejorar la salud materna y reducir la mortalidad neonatal
Medical Care Recommendation, 1944 (No. 69)
Together with Recommendation No. 67 and Recommendation No. 69 is at the origin of the development of social security in ILO instruments and can be considered the blueprint for comprehensive social security systems. Together, they establish a comprehensive system of income security and medical care protection for each of the nine classical branches of social […]
Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1969 (No. 130)
Convention No. 130 covers both the contingency of medical care benefits and cash sickness benefit reflecting the trend to establish comprehensive health insurance systems. All employees, including apprentices, or at least 75 per cent of the whole economically active population, or all residents whose means do not exceed certain limits should be covered for both […]
Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102)
A reference for the development of social security systems, Convention No. 102 is the flagship of the up-to-date social security Conventions since it is deemed to embody the internationally accepted definition of the very principle of social security. Convention No. 102 is unique for both its conceptual formulation of social security, and the guidance it provides for […]
Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202)
Recommendation No. 202 is the first international instrument to offer guidance to countries to close social security gaps and progressively achieve universal protection through the establishment and maintenance of comprehensive social security systems. To this aim, the Recommendation calls for (1) the implementation, as a priority, of social protection floors (SPF) as a fundamental element […]
Legal Cases
The Rights to Work and Health in The Sudan
Nature of the Case Upon consideration of a communication submitted before it, the African Commission held that in its persecution of human rights defenders, the government of Sudan violated several provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the rights to work and health. Summary In 2012, the African Commission on Human […]
The Right to Affordable Care in the United States of America
Nature of the Case This case came before the Supreme Court on appeal, and constitutes a challenge to one aspect of the Affordable Care Act, specifically regarding whether subsidies can be provided to low-income people buying health insurance through federal exchanges. These subsidies are vital in enabling people to access affordable health care coverage. Summary […]
Resource his
Universal social protection for human dignity, social justice
The ILO’s General Survey 2019 , compiled by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR). The Survey (published under the title Universal social protection for human dignity, social justice and sustainable development) focuses on the ILO’s Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), which calls for basic income security and essential healthcare […]
Health economics
This review discusses two issues: maternal health care in Mozambique and adequate housing in Zimbabwe.
Challenges for health
Long-term care of the elderly is an imminent policy issue for countries facing profound demographic transformations due to ageing. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries face complex challenges in securing accessible, adequate and sustainable long-term care. While CEE countries anticipate a growing number of elderly persons in need of long-term care as a consequence
Social security system
This report presents a review of the recent changes made to the Ukrainian social security system between 2014 and 2015 and of the planned future reforms in the light of international social security standards. The ILO assessment aims to assist the Ukrainian Government and the social partners in effectively formulating and implementing measures to sustain.