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Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Corruption is particularly detrimental in that it increases mistrust on the part of all stakeholders, especially users of services, not only in the health-care system but also in the abilities and performance of local and national authorities in general. While little research has been done on the impact of corruption on health outcomes, it is suggested, for example, that countries with higher levels of corruption have higher levels of child mortality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The right to health gives rise to obligations that provide a framework for action for duty bearers, as well as a framework of reference for monitoring and accountability. The right to health is subject to progressive realization. This means that many aspects of the right to health do not have to be realized immediately; rather, States must take effective and targeted measures towards the progressive realization of the right to health. However, States also have some immediate obligations, including core obligations such as the equitable distribution of health facilities, goods and services; the provision of essential medicines; access to minimum essential food, basic shelter, safe and potable water and sanitation; and the adoption of a national health strategy and plan of action on the basis of epidemiological information. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has also highlighted that universal health coverage is a core obligation (see the Committee’s general comment No. 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, para. 72). States must adopt and enforce legislative, regulatory and policy measures to ensure that corruption does not impede the fulfilment of their progressive and core obligations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of the right to health of young persons under the age of 18. Article 24 of the Convention affirms the right to health as established in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is especially relevant given the importance of sexual and reproductive health to the lives of young women and men. The Convention urges States to ensure prenatal and post-natal care for mothers, develop family planning education and services and ensure the elimination of traditional practices that are "prejudicial to the health of children".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- In some instances, civil legislation related to child welfare has been expanded to include punitive sanctions for prenatal drug exposure, where such exposure may provide a ground for the termination of parental rights and the removal of the child upon birth. A pregnant woman's positive toxicology report or clinical signs of drug exposure in newborns, may be regarded as proof of child abuse or neglect under these legislative schemes. In some jurisdictions, health professionals are required to test pregnant women or newborns for drug exposure or may do so provided the woman is given notice. Others have enacted legislation authorizing the institutionalization of women who have used drugs during pregnancy. Health professionals may also be obliged to report positive drug-screening results to the Government.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Health financing in the context of the right to health 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The Global Fund and the International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID) represent two successful examples of global pooling that have had significant positive impacts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria globally. Both the Global Fund and UNITAID have collected and pooled significant resources from donor States and through innovative financing mechanisms and allocated funds and resources based on need. Under programmes funded by the Global Fund, 3.3 million people living with HIV received antiretroviral treatments in 2011 alone and 9.3 million smear-positive cases of tuberculosis were detected and treated between 2010 and 2012. UNITAID has provided child-friendly treatment to 400,000 children living with HIV and delivered 46 million artemisinin-based combination therapies to first-line purchasers of malaria medications. Moreover, in contrast to bilateral aid and assistance from international financial institutions, the Global Fund and UNITAID have removed conditionalities and increased levels of transparency and stakeholder participation in funding processes and programmatic activities in accordance with the right to health approach to health financing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The fields of global health and human rights have, in recent years, developed accountability analysis and institutions, which can inspire accountability for the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and help to shape new arrangements. In 2011, the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health, established to propose a framework to ensure that commitments made under the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health (2010-2015) were met, proposed a tripartite model of accountability, composed of monitoring, review and remedial action. That model, derived from the human rights understanding of accountability, was subsequently taken up by the Secretary-General, including in the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030, which supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to women's, children's and adolescents' health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Another key mechanism is the Independent Accountability Panel, appointed earlier in 2016, which will monitor progress towards the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the appointment of the Panel and will follow its work with interest.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Universal health coverage has been called "a practical expression" of the right to health. It is indeed a core obligation under children's right to health. However, not all paths to universal health coverage are consistent with human rights requirements. Targets 3.7 and 3.8 do not make explicit commitments to confer priority to the poor and marginalized either in the process of expanding coverage or in developing priorities as to which services to provide. Without those clear commitments, there is a risk that universal health coverage efforts will entrench inequality. For example, in countries lacking strong health systems, Governments may pursue strategies that prioritize expansion to groups in privileged positions, such as those working in the formal sector, where infrastructure and opportunistic private or national insurance schemes are readily available. Likewise, countries with centralized and expansive health coverage might soon proclaim achievement of universal health coverage, even while some of their most vulnerable subgroups are left with health care that is abusive, coercive and/or of poor quality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Other international instruments address the trafficking of people, including for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" (art. 3 (a)). Exploitation is further defined to include the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation. Additionally, the Protocol states that the consent of any victim of trafficking is deemed irrelevant where circumstances such as vulnerability or abuse of power exist (art. 3 (b)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Terms such as "vulnerability" and "abuse of power" remain undefined within the Protocol, and have no independent legal meaning. These terms require clarification, as failure to do so could lead to situations in which State responses to trafficking include sex workers who voluntarily enter the sex sector. For instance, the trafficking of women and children to participate in sex work has been conflated with voluntary participation in sex work in Cambodia, where the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation was introduced in 1998. The purpose of this legislation was the suppression of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as stated in article 1, but the statute includes provisions that prohibit activities around sex work and effectively criminalize the sex sector in its entirety. The law prohibits solicitation, support of prostitution in any manner, sharing of benefits obtained from prostitution, management of an establishment for prostitution, or even selling premises knowing they will be used for prostitution, amongst other activities (chapt. IV). The penalties for breach of these laws are extreme, including the seizure of materials and proceeds, closure of businesses and, alarmingly, the restriction of civil rights (art. 48). This law has led to the detention of sex workers without arrest or imposition of criminal charges, as well as to rape and extortion, following raids.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The criminalization of HIV transmission predominately takes two forms: first, laws specifically criminalizing transmission of HIV and, second, through the application of existing criminal law to cases involving exposure to or the transmission of HIV (such as assault). Such legislation has included, inter alia, the criminalization of exposure to HIV (including mother-to-child exposure), attempted transmission and failure to disclose HIV status to potential sexual partners. Certain statutes also mandate the imposition of harsher sentencing in cases involving sexual violence where HIV transmission has occurred, essentially treating HIV as an aggravating factor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In Sierra Leone, a person infected with HIV (and aware of the fact) must "take all reasonable measures and precautions to prevent the transmission of HIV to others and in the case of pregnant women, the foetus", with criminal sanctions imposed for failure to do so. It is unclear what "all reasonable measures and precautions" in the case of prevention of mother-to-child transmission would include, and whether such standards are clearly articulated and understood by health-care providers and pregnant women themselves to ensure that an informed decision can be made. Given the complexity of guidance on the suitability of breastfeeding, decisions on infant feeding options involve a complex balancing of risks and benefits, and require that the mother be provided with accurate, comprehensible information. In this instance, the criminal law has the potential to punish women for the inadequacy of the government in providing appropriate services and education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Definitions of early childhood vary by country and region. The Committee on the Rights of the Child establishes the limit of early childhood at 8 years of age. This is a common categorization for early childhood used by, among others, the World Health Organization (WHO). In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on children under 5 years of age. This age group is commonly further divided into the neonatal period (0-28 days), infancy (the first year of life) and the preschool years (1-5 years).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The reduction of under-5 mortality has been at the heart of the global development and public health agendas. The Millennium Development Goals called for a reduction of under-5 mortality by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 (goal 4). Global commitments such as the Millennium Development Goads have provided impetus for global strategies as well as national plans to accelerate progress, most notably the Secretary-General's 2010 Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health and Every Newborn: An Action Plan to End Preventable Deaths, issued by WHO in 2014. These documents have helped galvanize international and national action as well provided technical guidance for reducing under-5 mortality and morbidity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Significant progress has been made in reducing deaths among children under five, from 12.7 million deaths in 1990 to 6.3 million deaths in 2013. However, progress has been insufficient to meet goal 4, particularly in Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia and Southern Asia.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- In that resolution, the Human Rights Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in close collaboration with WHO and in consultation with other partners, to prepare a report on the practical application of the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The technical guidance (A/HRC/27/31) is a major contribution. It sets out the human rights dimensions of under-5 morbidity and mortality and explains how to apply human rights-based approaches to address the problem. It provides detailed operational guidance for legislative measures, governance and coordination, planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, remedies and redress and international cooperation. The Special Rapporteur endorses the systematic approach of the technical guidance as a significant step towards the reduction and elimination of preventable deaths of children under 5 years of age.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The global health community has also given attention to the human rights dimensions of under-5 mortality and morbidity and has committed to ground its efforts in human rights. The Secretary-General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health is grounded in global human rights commitments and emphasizes that legislation and policies should be in line with human rights. The new global strategy, which is to replace the existing strategy in the coming months, will call for the integration of human rights in all efforts to improve women's, children's and adolescents' health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Human rights are also one of six guiding principles of Every Newborn: An Action Plan to End Preventable Deaths. The Action Plan highlights that all planning and programming for reproductive, maternal and newborn health should be guided by principles and standards derived from international human rights treaties. A range of operational tools have also been developed to help States to systematically apply human rights standards in law, policy and service delivery for young children and their caregivers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Nevertheless, there are still very few concrete examples of the actual practical application of a human rights-based approach to child survival and development. In order to make a difference, States should be intentional and explicit about the application of a human rights-based approach in their laws, policies, programmes, budgets and other measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Infants and young children are holders of all rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as other international human rights treaties. The Convention affords special protection for early childhood in recognition of the important and particular challenges facing this age group and the progressive exercise of their rights, in accordance with their evolving capacities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In this regard, the rights of the newborn, as a rights holder, need to be addressed. Newborn children are too often not considered as deserving the status of autonomous individuals and rights holders and therefore not deserving respect and dignity. Young children, from the first days of their lives, are not only exposed to the environment in which they live but are actively shaping their surroundings by means of their presence and different forms of communication. In paragraph 10 of the recommendations adopted on its day of general discussion on implementing child rights in early childhood, held in September 2004, the Committee on the Rights of the Child underlined that the concept of the child as rights holder is "anchored in the child's daily life from the earliest stage" (para. 10).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The treaties set out entitlements and freedoms, assign duties, provide a legally binding framework and demand accountability. They demand particular efforts, mostly by States, to address inequality and discrimination, focusing on the most marginalized young children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Article 3 of the Convention stipulates that in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. This provision has wide-ranging implications for policy, including the allocation of resources, as well as decisions concerning individual children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The importance of primary health care, as expressed in the Declaration of Alma-Ata, adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978, and in article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child must be underlined with regard to health promotion and health-care services for young children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In this connection, the importance of States' commitments under the global targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition must be underlined. The targets are crucial to establishing priority areas for action and catalysing global change.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- On the basis of international human right law and standards, States should prohibit unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or early childhood in order to guarantee the bodily integrity, autonomy and self- determination of the children concerned.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- In recent years, the importance of accountability for the health of young children has been increasingly recognized by the international community, including in the Global Strategy on Women's and Children's Health and in the final report of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a comprehensive normative and legally binding framework to address the right to health and the holistic development of the young child. States have legally binding obligations to adopt and implement laws, regulations, policies, budgetary measures, programmes and other initiatives to ensure the respect, protection and fulfilment of the right to health, including healthy development, in early childhood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- States, as primary duty bearers under international human rights law, are under a duty to protect the right to health by ensuring that the actions of third parties contribute to and do not jeopardize it. For example, States must support and assist, to the maximum their extent of available resources, parents and caregivers to care for children and secure the living conditions necessary for their health and optimal development; and protect child victims of violence and witnesses and investigate and punish those responsible for its occurrence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph