Ariticle24Health, water, food, environment
- States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.
- States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures:
- To diminish infant and child mortality;
- To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care;
- To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution;
- To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers;
- To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents;
- To develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.
- States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.
- States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international co-operation with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right recognized in the present article. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.
This Article stipulates the rights of children to health maintenance, treatment and recovery in case of illness, and the responsibilities of the State for this end, and indicates the specific measures to be taken. It also notes the promotion and recommendation of international co-operation for the implementation of this article.
Details set out in the article
Paragraph 1 recognizes the child's right to enjoy the “highest attainable standard of health” and to receive treatment for illness and rehabilitation. It also establishes the State's obligation to make every effort to provide access to such health services. Paragraph 2 provides for specific measures to implement the contents of this article as follows.
② Provision of medical and health care centered on basic health care (access to affordable medicines, vaccines, and medical care)
③ Consideration for environmental pollution, nutritious food and clean drinking water supply
④ Maternal and child health before and after childbirth
⑤ Access to information and education on child health, hygiene, accident prevention, etc.
⑥ Develop education and services in preventive health, parental guidance, and family planning
Paragraph 3 provides for the State to take measures to abolish traditional customs which are harmful to the health of children. An example of such customs is female circumcision. Paragraph 4 emphasizes the importance of international co-operation for the protection of the rights set out in this article and requires special consideration of assistance to developing countries in particular.
Progress on the right to health care
Children's rights to health and medical care were already recognized in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). This article takes it a step forward and provides for the right of access to rehabilitation and health services. It has been suggested that this makes the rights set out in this article more concrete and practical. At the same time, however, there are critical remarks about the fact that the state's guarantee of these rights is an “obligation to strive for.”
In Japan, laws for individual issues, such as the “Maternal and Child Health Act” and the “Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members,” have already been established, and it is considered that the requirements of this article are mostly satisfied. International co-operation includes support activities through JICA and WHO, and private sector support by NGOs such as JOICEP, etc. JICA has identified maternal and child health care as one of its main activities in the health care sector, utilizing the “Maternal and Child Health Handbook,” a program born in Japan.