This paper is located within two important theoretical discussions in human rights, namely: (i) the view that human rights are indivisible and that, as a consequence, one cannot separate human rights related to health, for example, from those related to politics, civil rights or culture; and (ii) that, within this theoretical position, cultural rights have a privileged position as rights with a transversal or cross-cutting character: in other words they are implicated in many if not most situations where human rights are involved. In this paper, these two theoretical positions are explored through the example of cases where cultural rights operate within the clinical setting, one in relation to the treatment of patients with HIV/AIDs and the other in relation to the language rights of patients in a multi-lingual environment in Africa. In both cases, the relationship between human rights and development is an important context of the discussion and one in which it will be placed.
Please cite this article as: Blake J. Patients’ Cultural Rights in the Clinical Context. Iran J Med Law 2017; 10(39): 7-23.