Equatorial Guinea

There is no constitutional provision referring to a "right to health". However, the Constitution provides that the State encourages and promotes primary health care as a cornerstone of the development of the health sector strategy (art. 23).

The Constitution does not include specific provisions regarding competence for health issues. Matters to be addressed by law are specified under article 69 and include among others, rights and duties of the citizens, administrative and financial organization, economic and social action, fundamental principles of education, culture, labour rights and social security.

No current national health policy was located in the country.

The main goal of the National Health Development Plan 2021-2025 (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Sanitario (PNDS) 2021-2025) is to raise the health status of the population of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to the highest and most equitable level, in accordance with the resources available to meet health commitments (page 11).

The specific objectives of Equatorial Guinea's National Health Development Plan are: (i) to promote quality governance of the health system for better service delivery and accountability, (ii) to strengthen the organization, coordination, and management mechanisms of the National Health System, (iii) to improve the availability, demand, access, and quality of health services for mothers, women, children, adolescents, and men, (iv) to intensify the fight against endemic diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other neglected diseases), (v) to strengthen control of chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases, (vi) to enhance health surveillance and response to emerging and re-emerging endemic diseases and other public health events, (vii) to substantially increase the quantity and quality of human resources in the health sector, prioritizing national resources, including the diaspora, and (viii) to develop a financing model that involves private sector participation and other development partners in health (page 11).

The document lists several legislative and regulatory documents such as Law No 4/1985 establishing the National Traditional Medicines Service (a Ley nº 4/1985, de fecha 24 de octubre, que crea el Servicio Nacional de Medicina Tradicional), Law No 3/2003 regulating pharmaceutical practice in the country (Ley número 3/2003, de fecha 18 de noviembre, que regula el ejercicio farmacéutico en el país), Ministerial Order No 1/2016 regulating the control of drug imports and pricing (Orden Ministerial No 1/2016 que regula el control de las importaciones y el precio de medicamentos), Decree No 73/2018 pertaining to the approval and registration of medicines (Decreto No 73/2018, de fecha 18 de abril, para la homologación y el registro de los medicamentos), and the National List of Essential Medicines of 2018 (Lista Nacional de Medicamentos Esenciales de 2018) (page 25).

The Development Plan provides logical frameworks for the achievement of identified objectives; some of the indicators under this framework contain legislation and regulation-related actions. For example, the indicators for the improvement of the legal and juridical framework in the health sector include training of health professionals in legal issues related to health, informing and sensitizing health professionals about the texts of existing health laws, and establishing and operational dissemination of existing laws on health (page 79). To address the weak application of legal and judicial provisions in health the plan proposes to develop a program to disseminate existing laws in the health field (page 93).