Summary:
The Constitution of Brazil from 1988 establishes that education, health, the childhood protection, and the right to food are social rights.
Description:
Social rights
The Constitution of Brazil establishes Brazilian social rights as the following:
- education, health, food, work, housing, transportation, leisure, security, social security, maternity and childhood protection, assistance to the helpless (Article 6).
Children and Adolescents
Moreover, according to it, childhood protection is a duty of the family, society and the State (Article 227). The idea is “to ensure children, adolescents and young people, with absolute priority, the right to life, health, food, education, leisure, professional training, culture, dignity, respect, freedom and family and community life, in addition to protecting them from all forms of negligence, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and oppression”. Due to this provision, it was created the Child and Adolescent Statute.
Health
The right to health ensures a public health system to everyone. Furthermore, it creates a duty of the State, guaranteed through social and economic policies that tend to reduce the risk of disease and other risks along with universal and equal access to actions and services for their promotion, protection, and recovery (Article 196). The entailed right on the Constitution created the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, in Portuguese).
In addition to it, it defines that general health issues are the concurrent competence between the Federation and the federative entities (states) (Article 23). Among a dynamic legal framework to regulate the public health system in Brazil, the Law on the Conditions for the Promotion, Protection and Recovery of Health establishes general principles and guidelines on the health system.
Marketing
For FULL purpose, it is also valuable to highlight an important provision that defines the importance of restricting marketing regarding harmful products (Article 220). Even though the provision does not explicit recognizes marketing restrictions on unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Supreme Court has recognized that this list is not exhaustive. It explicit says that the federal law can regulate the advertisement of products, practices, and services potentially harmful to public health and the environment.