Vital point theory: A vectorial architecture for reframing the right to health

This article proposes a theoretical reinterpretation of the right to health through the vital point theory (VPT), an interdisciplinary interpretive framework in which the individual constitutes the vital point and the normative reference point of the analysis. Four interdependent vectors—political power, market stakeholders, sociocultural dynamics, and legal power—converge on the individual and interact continuously through reciprocal influence. VPT examines how changes in the orientation or intensity of these vectors may reinforce or undermine the realization of the right to health. The vectorial metaphor represents a condition of relative and dynamic balance rather than a fixed or ideal institutional arrangement. By placing the individual at the center of the framework, VPT offers an integrated perspective for examining how political, legal, market, and sociocultural forces shape the conditions and opportunities for realizing the right to health and their relationship with human dignity.