Four strategic pathways for the realization of the right to health through civil society actions: challenges and practical lessons learned in the Egyptian context.

This article examines four distinctly different, yet fully complementary, strategic pathways adopted by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an Egyptian independent human rights organization, in its practical efforts to protect and guarantee the realization of the right to health to all Egyptians. It reflects upon practical experiences, covering strategic options that include proposing new legislation to policy makers, participatory formulation of new laws from the ground up, public advocacy, coalition building, and litigation. It also examines several factors that affect the decision on which strategic pathway to follow. It reflects on the politico-economic settings, the presence of political will, the scope and extent of impacted stakeholders and the degree of complexity of the cause in question.