The right to health means more than simply access to health care.  It also includes access to clean water, adequate food and shelter, among other things.  The government's budget is key in ensuring that people have access to all these essential services and facilities.

The right to health is guaranteed by numerous provisions in international law, including article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and  article 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), among others.  General Comment 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights details its understanding of the right to health.

A large number of groups currently analyze their government’s health budget, with a number framing their analyses in terms of the right to health.  The most common focuses of concern in that work are the affordability of access to health care, the adequacy of funding for HIV/AIDS programs, and the appropriateness and adequacy of funding to prevent maternal mortality. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the central connection of the status of health in a country to the government’s budget by providing country-by-country information on health expenditures.  While WHO does not provide a single benchmark applicable to all countries on how much of a government’s budget should be devoted to health, a number of governments have committed themselves to reaching specific levels of funding, either through national constitutions or policies, or regional or international agreements.  One such commitment was made by African Union member states in 2001, when they agreed to allocate 15% of their national budgets to health.