On the Scope of Constitutional Protection for the Right to Health

ZHANG Shuaiyu*

Abstract: The understanding of the scope of protection for the right to health should not be limited to fragmented descriptions in departmental laws, such as those focusing on rights, interests, or legal benefits. Instead, it should be analyzed holistically within the constitutional framework of fundamental rights. From the perspective of defense right function, the right to health addresses physiological harm that progresses through stages of“risk-danger-infringement,” psychological harm that targets inner distress, and minor harm arising from challenges in social adaptation, to clarify the negative defensive obligations of the state to prevent health-related harm. From the perspectives of the beneficiary right function and the objective value order function, the right to health requires a minimum level of constitutional protection and delineating the positive obligations of the state to ensure it through the fulfillment of basic obligations in healthcare and health promotion.

Keywords: constitution · human rights · right to health · scope of protection · state obligations