With the approach of the September 2013 meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the post-2015 Development Agenda, the health and intersectoral development goals have become the subject of considerable debate. Little of this debate has to do, however, with how the “right to the highest attainable standard of health” applies to non-nationals – i.e. people who live in a country without being its citizens and hence without access to health system benefits. The right to health obligates governments to facilitate access to health care to non-nationals and nationals alike. This is not simply a matter of human rights: it is a global development imperative.