The Conference had three working themes: The Model law and its influence on Access to information in Africa; Implementing the right to access to information in Africa, and; The role and influence of soft within the African Human Rights system.
KELIN, represented by Belice Odamna and Nerima Were, presented a paper titled ‘Making the right to information a reality in realization of the right to health in Kenya’. The paper sought to, among others, establish the duty of health information holders to utilize the information held for legitimate purposes, grounded in respect for human rights, while balancing public health needs.
Using the Model law on Access to information as a guide, they discussed how access to information may facilitate the realization of the highest attainable standard of health as guaranteed in the Constitution of Kenya. The paper further discussed three distinct ways in which access to information impacts the realization of the right to health. They include: Protection of the right to informed consent through right to information; protection of personal health and medical information, and; Challenges faced when seeking individual patient health and medical information from health facilities for litigation.
Experiences on the implementation of constitutional provisions and laws on access to information were shared by participants from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Instructively, the legitimacy of soft law within African Union frameworks was explored, with reference to the Resolutions and General Comments of the African Commission, as well as other Model Laws adopted by the African Union Commission on International Law.
