To live in healthy conditions is a fundamental concern and aim of human beings. Along with social development，human beings are not satisfied with mere survival，but demand healthy and dignified existence in order to pursue comprehensive development. Therefore，the health was defined as a right and it is also hoped that the right to health shall be protected and promoted in the same way as that of other rights such as right to dignity and right to personal freedom.

The right to health has developed into a basic human right and a core purpose of social development，which has been defined in several important international human rights documents. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948 provides that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family，including food，clothing，housing and medical care and necessary social servers，and the right to security in the event of unemployment，sickness，disability，widowhood，old age or other lacks of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. Article 12 （1） of the International Covenant on Economic，Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 15 December 1966 provides that “the States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. Article 24 （1） of the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on20 December 1989 provides that “States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services”. In addition to the provisions for the right to health in the above mentioned international human rights instruments，the provisions in other documents are helpful to understand the right to health. For example，Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 21 December 1965 provides that “States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone，without distinction as to race，colour，or national or ethnic origin，to equality before the law，notably in the enjoyment of the following rights：... （e） economic，social and culture rights，in particular：... （iv） the right to public health，medical care，social security and social services”. Article 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 18 December 1979 provides that “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure，on a basis of equality of men and women，access to health care services，including those related to family planning .... States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy，confinement and the post-natal period，granting free services where necessary，as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation”. Furthermore，some regional human rights instruments also provide the right to health and other related rights.

Although different countries have gradually deepened their understanding on the health issues and made some achievements in protection and promotion of right to health since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights，realization of right to health is not satisfactory. There is no international consensus about some fundamental issues such as what is the right to health，what are standards for the right to health，how to realize the right to health，etc. At least because of different understandings of these fundamental issues，the protection and promotion of the right to health are not satisfactory in many countries. Therefore，the understanding of the right to health is critical and the present paper will focus on an analysis of standards and realization of the right to health.