The Right to Health and Access to Health Care in Saudi Arabia with a Particular Focus on the Women and Migrants

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the right to health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and looks specifically at the position of vulnerable groups when it comes to the realisation of the right to health. The groups considered are women and migrant workers. The chapter looks at the underlying determinants of the right to health in relation to these groups, specifically the determinants that arise from the concept or practice of gender inequality. In the context of the Kingdom, these inequalities arise from traditional, cultural, and social practices that may affect the health of women and migrant workers. The chapter begins by examining the overall human rights protection in the Kingdom and discusses a variety of disadvantages faced by these groups, which are generally caused by cultural and social practices. It then explains how these disadvantages can have a negative impact in a variety of aspects of these groups’ lives and focuses specifically on the right to health. The chapter shows that it is impossible for the ‘right to the highest attainable standard of health’ to be achieved for these groups unless there are fundamental changes in social and cultural practices that are deeply embedded in the traditions and laws of the Kingdom.