Access to Preventive Health Care for Undocumented Migrants: A Comparative Study of Germany, The Netherlands and Spain from a Human Rights Perspective

Veronika Flegar, María Dalli and Brigit Toebes
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Veronika Flegar: Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration, University of Groningen, Groningen 9712 CP, The Netherlands
María Dalli: Human Rights Institute, University of Valencia, València 46022, Spain
Brigit Toebes: Department of International Law, University of Groningen, Groningen 9712 CP, The Netherlands

Laws, 2016, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: The present study analyzes the preventive health care provisions for nationals and undocumented migrants in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain in light of four indicators derived from the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ General Comment 14 (GC 14). These indicators are (i) immunization; (ii) education and information; (iii) regular screening programs; and (iv) the promotion of the underlying determinants of health. It aims to answer the question of what preventive health care services for undocumented migrants are provided for in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain and how this should be evaluated from a human rights perspective. The study reveals that the access to preventive health care for undocumented migrants is largely insufficient in all three countries but most extensive in the Netherlands and least extensive in Germany. The paper concludes that a human rights-based approach to health law and policy can help to refine and concretize the individual rights and state obligations for the preventive health care of undocumented migrants. While the human rights framework is still insufficiently clear in some respects, the research concedes the added value of a rights-based approach as an evaluation tool, advocacy framework and moral principle to keep in mind when adopting or evaluating state policies in the health sector.

Keywords: preventive health care; undocumented migrants; right to health; human rights indicators; underlying determinants of health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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