The right to health has been affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the constitution of the World Health Organization, and codified in numerous national constitutions and policy statements. On Native American lands and African villages, in the offices of global think tanks and international aid groups, activists are creating the conditions to widen access to care. But not everyone even agrees that health is a universal right, especially in the United States, where individual protections tend to dominate over community goals. Is health a promise that should be kept? And if so, how do we keep it?