Article 19, Section 9: Health Rights and Restoration

In paragraph 2, Article 19 No. 9, provisions are made for the protection of free, equal access to the promotion, protection, and restoration of health and rehabilitation of the individual. This encompasses the following:

a) Promotion:

The state meets this responsibility through the implementation of public policies aimed at improving the quality of preventive lives for people. This involvement is required not only from public officials but also from the private sphere, which should participate in the promotion policies generated by the state. An example is the plan implemented in 2004 by the Ministry of Health, called the "Healthy Living Plan of the State of Chile," which fundamentally seeks to stop risk factors through several measures. These include:

• Development of protective social, psychological, and environmental health factors.
• Strengthening security and citizen networks, as well as social networks.
• Establishing funds to strengthen the regulatory role concerning the determinants of health, which covers nearly everything related to health outcomes.

b) Health Care:

This refers to everything known as preventive medicine that the state provides, for example, through vaccination campaigns, in order to prevent people from becoming sick.

c) Recovery of Health:

These are services related to the healing medicine for the person. To that extent, there are two successive stages of healing:

1. The Diagnostic Process: This is the process to determine what is wrong.
2. Process to Determine Treatment Options: This involves deciding on the appropriate medical interventions.

d) Rehabilitation of the Individual:

This means helping a person who has suffered an injury or illness to recover from its after-effects and return to a normal life as before. For example, in the case of dependent workers, there is a compulsory insurance law (referenced in 66-77 years' special provisions) concerning work-related illnesses and employer insurance. The payment for this insurance is made by the employer, and this law covers all accidents occurring at work, including the commute to or from work. This ensures treatment and rehabilitation so the individual can return to work in optimal or the best possible conditions.