Vol. 1 No. 1 (2022): COMPARATIVE HEALTH LAW JOURNAL

EDITORIAL FIRST EDITION

It is with great pride and satisfaction that we present the first edition of the COMPARATIVE HEALTH LAW JOURNAL. It is intended that this electronic international journal will become an important tool to disseminate research and reflections of professors and researchers in the field of Law and Health from around the world.

Organized by the master’s degree program of Medical Law at UNISA (University Santo Amaro), São Paulo State – Brazil, the journal's mission is to promote the enrichment of scientific and academic debate and to widely disseminate quality research based on theoretical and empirical approaches to Medical Law, fundamental rights regarding social health, public policies in the field of public health as well as supplementary health.

The journal's focuses on the interdisciplinary field of Law, Medicine and Health, and is open to relevant contributions from other areas of Human, Social and Biological Sciences.

Despite the publication of notices at the beginning of each semester, papers will be accepted continuously, in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian and German.

To achieve this goal, the Comparative Health Law Journal has the support of respected scientists and jurists in its Editorial and Scientific Boards, and adopts a broad editorial line, following the strict criteria established by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES - Brazil), to guarantee absolute exemption and impartiality in the evaluation of the works to be published and the quality of their contents.

To begin, we are honored to publish papers by distinguished jurists. In the first section of this edition, we have foreign studies written by the following authors: Bertrand Mathieu, French jurist, professor of Constitutional Law at l'École de droit de la Sorbonne de l'université, Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne; Marisa Aizenberg,  Professor and Academic Director of Observatorio de Salud Facultad de Derecho UBA – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Pedro Felipe de Oliveira Santos, researcher at the University of Oxford – United Kingdom; Ricardo Resende Campos, jurist and professor of Public Law at the Goethe Universitat Frankfurt am Main, who writes in co-authorship with Carolina Xavier, researcher at the Legal Informatics Laboratory and the Legal Grounds Institute.

In the second section, we present research results of the following professors, all from Brazil: Alysson Leandro Mascaro; Camila Pintarelli; Clenio Jair Schulze;  Georghio Alessandro Tomelin; Ingo Wolfgang Sarlet who writes in co-authorship with Jeferson Ferreira Barbosa; Josimário J. Silva and Tiago Santos Badin; Leandro Sarcedo and Ana Carolina Moreira Santos; Rubens Beçak  in co-authorship with Guilherme de Siqueira Castro; and Walber de Moura Agra.

We thank and are honored with the prestige received, to publish these excellent works.

In view of the compiled and qualified material of this edition, we consider it important to emphasize the importance of the fundamental right to health, an essential condition for human dignity and survival, provided for in article 196 of Brazil’s Federal Constitution of 1988. Its importance is also described in the preface to the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), which states:

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.

The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent upon the fullest co-operation of individuals and States.

The achievement of any State in the promotion and protection of health is of value to all.

Unequal development in different countries in the promotion of health and control of disease, especially communicable disease, is a common danger.

Healthy development of the child is of basic importance; the ability to live harmoniously in a changing total environment is essential to such development.

The extension to all peoples of the benefits of medical, psychological and related knowledge is essential to the fullest attainment of health.

Informed opinion and active co-operation on the part of the public are of the utmost importance in the improvement of the health of the people.

Governments have a responsibility for the health of their peoples which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures.” (CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, 1946).

In Brazil, the fundamental right to health has as its legal content adequate, full, and universal access, within the scope of public health; and in supplementary health services, adequate and efficient care at affordable prices compatible with a quality health service.

Unfortunately, around the world, about 100 million people are pushed to live below the poverty line every year, jeopardizing the guarantee of these people's fundamental rights (according to WHO data, on December 29, 2017), with vulnerable and marginalized groups in most societies, who often face excessive health problems. The right to the "highest attainable standard of health", including for this marginalized population, requires a set of favorable social criteria to the health of all, including the availability of health services, safe working conditions, adequate housing and the adequate access to food.

Public health policies and programs must promote and take action against human rights violations, establishing measures capable of respecting and protecting them, defining competences and also responsibilities.

In this sense, it is essential that research and education about rights involving public and private health area be stimulated, which is one of the missions of this international Journal. The objective is to exchange experiences in a dialogical and technical way, so that the enjoyment of the right to health for all is effectively governed by strict standards, including non-discrimination, wide availability, and adequate accessibility within the highlighted dimensions by WHO, namely: (i) acceptability, with the provision of ethical, culturally appropriate, and sensitive medical goods and services to the needs of each sex and life cycle; (ii) quality, as health establishments, goods and services must be scientifically adequate and of good quality; and (iii) responsibility, which must reach the state agencies and all of the health service care chain.

Finally, it is with joy that we present this journal, and we hope that reading this first edition – and the next ones – will be productive with a lot of learning.

Enrique Ricardo Lewandowski

President of the Editorial Board

Richard Pae Kim

Editor-in-chief