About

The Framework Convention on Global Health (FCGH) is a proposed treaty that would be based in the right to health. It would be aimed at addressing the central shortcomings in implementing the right to health, necessary for all people to have the opportunity to live long, healthy lives.

The FCGH Alliance is a Geneva-based NGO formed to advocate for and ensure inclusive participation in the process of developing the FCGH.

Read more about the FCGH Alliance, its structure, and leadership.

Learn more about the proposal of an FCGH based in the right to health.

Browse and comment on an outline and discussion drafts of the proposed treaty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do we need a treaty on the right to health when a number of other treaties already include this right?

First, the FCGH would go beyond defining the right to include binding norms on measures countries should take to implement the FCGH. Second, the FCGH could provide clarifications on achieving the right to health in an increasingly interdependent world. Third, the FCGH could clarify ambiguities in the right to health (such as the standards attached to progressive realization) and further detail the right. And fourth, the FCGH could include accountability and enforcement measures that go beyond existing treaties. The Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities demonstrates how providing specific measures for states to take to implement already binding human rights and clarifying the meaning of key elements of the right to health (such as non-discrimination in the case of the disabilities convention) can be transformative.

Why is it important to have a treaty, rather than a non-binding international agreement?

A treaty has the greatest potential for creating powerful norms that states feel under strong pressure to implement, as with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The legally binding nature of the treaty can open up or strengthen enforcement possibilities, including through the courts, while increasing political pressure to comply. And regimes that risk undermining the right to health, such as the areas of trade, intellectual property, and investment, are themselves grounded in treaties; a similarly forceful instrument is needed to counter the potential harm of these other legal regimes.