The WHO definition of health: a critical reading

The purpose of this research is to clarify the meaning of health, starting from the analysis of the definition of health stated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948, in order to understand its ethical and legal relevance. The WHO, recognizing the influence and the importance of normative elements in the definition of health, states that health does not correspond merely to the absence of disease, but it is an individual and subjective condition. The strength of this definition of health is that it overcomes the dualistic point of view of the self, peculiar to the traditional conceptions that define health in purely biological terms. It maintains the intrinsic relationship between the self and the body, considering the different importance given to equal physical conditions by different human beings. However, the WHO definition also shows various critical aspects. It includes a wide range of elements that establish the human well-being. These elements on one side are absolutely subjective, on the other side they are strongly influenced by the prevailing cultural models. Furthermore, it is clear that such a wide definition of health makes the equal protection of the right to health nearly unachievable for every State. In fact, taking into account the scarcity of resources and the many areas of public intervention needed to guarantee a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, it is plausible to conclude that any public health system would be able to reach a similar goal.