Introduction: Marrying human rights and health care systems: Contexts for a power to improve access and equity

In this volume, we explore the power of health care rights in diverse health care systems. Does a right to health care serve to advance greater equity or does it in fact advance the opposite result? Does the recognition of a right to health care help sustain public values (like equality) in systems that are undergoing privatization? Or, to the contrary, does a focus on rights-based norms foster individualism and exacerbate inequalities brought about by privatization? Does the legal means by which health care rights are established make a difference (whether in a constitutional document, in a statute, etc.)? How do courts balance the rights of an individual against collective needs in the distribution of health care? Has this differed depending on the wording of health rights protections? To what extent are broader legal, economic, and political considerations taken into account in the courts reasoning about health rights? Does the interpretation of the right to health vary depending on the model of health system involved (e.g.,