Health in Bhutan

Health in Bhutan is one of the government's highest priorities in its scheme of development and modernization. Health and related issues are overseen by the Ministry of Health, itself represented on the executive Lhengye Zhungtshog (cabinet) by the Minister of Health. As a component of Gross National Happiness, affordable and accessible health care is central to the public policy of Bhutan.[1][2][3][4]

The Constitution of Bhutan charges the Royal Government with ensuring a "safe and healthy environment," and with providing "free access to basic public health services in both modern and traditional medicines".[5]: 5:2(d), 9:21 

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[6] finds that Bhutan is fulfilling 85.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.[7] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Bhutan achieves 91.8% of what is expected based on its current income.[8] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 80.7% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. [9] Bhutan falls into the "bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 84.1% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.[10]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference AHB2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference TCA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Annual Report 2008-09: Major Achievements in one Year" (PDF). Ministry of Health, Government of Bhutan. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  4. ^ "Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act 2005" (PDF). Government of Bhutan. 2005-11-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  5. ^ "The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan" (PDF). Government of Bhutan. 2008-07-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  6. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  7. ^ "Bhutan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  8. ^ "Bhutan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  9. ^ "Bhutan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  10. ^ "Bhutan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.