The care of individuals is at the center of health care delivery but must be viewed and practiced within the overall context of continuing work to generate the greatest possible health gains for groups and populations. The responsibilities of the health care delivery system include the prevention of illness and the alleviation of disability. Cooperation with each other and those served is imperative for those working within the health care delivery system. All individuals and groups involved in health care, whether they provide access or services, have the continuing responsibility to help improve its quality. Interpretive statements for each principle follow.
Health care is a human right.
The aim of health care delivery is to maintain and improve health, to alleviate disability, and to provide access to appropriate health services to all persons regardless of their ability to pay. Caring for sick people is a social obligation that extends beyond the commercial realm. Although ownership of health care delivery institutions or other organizations that deliver medical care may be appropriate, care itself cannot be owned and must be viewed as a service that is rendered and remunerated under the stewardship of those in the health care system rather than merely sold to individuals or communities. Health care is financed in part or in whole by governments, and society heavily subsidizes the processes of acquiring medical knowledge, education, and skills. These are important reasons why the care resulting from the application of medical skills cannot belong exclusively to individual providers or organizations.