China ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2001. It thus bearsobligations under Article 12 of the covenant to take appropriate measures at the domestic level to realizethe right to health in China. Accountability is an important component of the right to health. This articleexamines whether the Western concept of accountability, recently imported into China, has the potentialto improve the protection of the right to health within China’s existing political, legal, and culturalframework. In so doing, it reviews current Chinese institutional mechanisms and considers the use ofless formal mechanisms by which duty-bearers might be held accountable in China. More specifically,this article provides an overview of a range of health-related accountability mechanisms, includingjudicial, political, administrative, professional, and social accountability arrangements. It concludes thatalthough there is the basis of an accountability framework for the right to health in China, the effectiveoperation of accountability mechanisms is hindered by longstanding cultural and political barriers.
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