There is currently a great deal of interest in ethical issues of health policy, both in developed and in developing countries. All health care systems are confronted with the issue of how to prioritize between different interventions when resources are scarce. A number of national commissions have examined this issue, and the World Bank published its report Investing in Health in 1993.

While disciplines such as economics and policy analysis are indispensable when deciding what interventions should get priority, there are also underlying value questions that need to be examined. Although most policy analyses emphasize the importance of equity when making health care decisions, there are very few attempts to analyze systematically how one should understand this concept. One aim of this project has been to explore whether and how health as a human right can bring new insight to that issue