Resumen

VELEZ ARANGO, Alba Lucía. HEALTH AND DISEASE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE COLOMBIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT. Hacia promoc. Salud [online]. 2012, vol.17, n.2, pp.91-109. ISSN 0121-7577.

Objective: To identify a sample of writ of amparo sentences pronounced by the Colombian Constitutional Court in the period between 1992 and 2010, the concepts of health and disease that have guided its pronouncements regarding the protection of the right to health. Materials and Methods: One-hundred-fifty writ of amparo and unification (SU) sentences motivated because of the breach to the right to health and reviewed by the Court in the period between 1992 and 2010 were analyzed. Findings and Discussion: The conceptions of life, treatment, cure and its vision comprehensive notion of protecting the right to health were explored. The comprehensiveness of care that should be provided to the users of health services is recognized; this way, a treatment prescribed by the treating physician cannot be provided partially, under penalty to affecting the possibility of the patient's recovery. There is a special status for the protection of the right to health for under age population, 'pro infans principle', and for the elderly population. The recognition of human dignity in their conception of "end in itself" is forceful in such a way that it urges to discard all contemptuous attitude before their physical and spiritual needs, all of which deserve attention in the rule of law, which recognizes in human beings the reason for its existence and the basis and justification for the legal system. Conclusions: The understanding the Court has of the comprehensiveness and continuity principles as the essence of the public health service and also a view of health beyond disease, were demonstrated.

Palabras clave : Jurisprudence; life; health; disease; treatment; recovery; health system; right to health.

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