The Human Right to Health and Corporate Responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa

This philosophically and legally grounded volume explores the human right to health in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on corporate responsibility. Combining practical insights with thorough scholarship, it analyzes the universal legal basis of the right, the responsibilities it entails, and how it is applied within specific African contexts.

Health has long been recognized as a fundamental human right, protected by Article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. While the obligation of states to uphold this right is clear, the extent of corporate responsibility, legally and in stakeholder expectations, remains unclear. This book fills that gap by advocating for a strategic and context-aware approach to corporate health obligations in Africa. It emphasizes that such responsibilities should stand apart from the capacity or political will of states to fulfill their own human rights commitments.

The book gathers contributors from diverse countries and disciplines, such as law, political science, ethics, and medicine. It examines whether, and how, corporations, businesses, and other private entities can be held to binding human rights duties, especially concerning the right to health. It also discusses how these duties might be implemented in African settings through policies, regulations, public health programs, and corporate accountability systems.

A distinctive feature of the book is its engagement with African intellectual traditions to strengthen the normative concept of corporate responsibility. It also emphasizes the importance of shared responsibility between public and private actors in addressing structural health challenges on the continent.

The Human Right to Health and Corporate Responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa is a timely academic and research resource for scholars and students in law, philosophy, ethics, business, public health, and the social sciences. It is also of interest to policymakers, NGOs, and human rights advocates seeking to align corporate conduct with fundamental human rights in African settings.