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Article 6: The right to life 1982, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, the Committee has noted that the right to life has been too often narrowly interpreted. The expression “inherent right to life” cannot properly be understood in a restrictive manner, and the protection of this right requires that States adopt positive measures. In this connection, the Committee considers that it would be desirable for States parties to take all possible measures to reduce infant mortality and to increase life expectancy, especially in adopting measures to eliminate malnutrition and epidemics.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 1982
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Lack of birth registration is another significant risk factor since it makes a child officially invisible. It also constitutes a barrier to accessing the social services that are critical for prevention, including health and education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 122c
- Paragraph text
- [To that end, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following actions:] Ensure that children's births are registered; and ensure that vulnerable children are identified early and that they have an adequate standard of living and free access to health care and health services, education and social security;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Maternal health, prenatal and post-natal care, and access to information, are all elements of the right to health elaborated under General Comment No. 14. Additionally, article 10.2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides that special protection should be accorded to mothers. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women also recognizes that women should be provided with appropriate services in connection with pregnancy. In chapter VII.A., the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development observes that reproductive health includes access to services that enable women to go through pregnancy and childbirth safely. Despite these positive obligations to support women during pregnancy and post-birth, certain States have proposed or enacted criminal laws or other legal restrictions prohibiting certain forms of conduct, which infringe the right to health of affected women.
- 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
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In certain jurisdictions, pregnant women have been prosecuted for various types of conduct during pregnancy. A number of prosecutions have occurred in relation to the use of illicit drugs by pregnant woman, including under pre-existing laws relating to child abuse, attempted murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Criminal laws have also been used to prosecute women for other conduct, including alcohol use during pregnancy, the birth of stillborn babies or the miscarriage of a foetus (see A/HRC/17/26/Add.2, para. 68), failing to follow a doctor's orders, failing to refrain from sexual intercourse, and concealment of the birth.
- 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
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- 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
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- [Poverty takes an especially heavy toll on children, as evidenced by the following figures cited by UNICEF:] 22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Pregnant women who are exposed to pesticides are at higher risk of miscarriage, pre-term delivery and birth defects. Studies have regularly found a cocktail of pesticides in umbilical cords and first faeces of newborns, proving prenatal exposure. Exposure to pesticides can be transferred from either parent. The most critical period for exposure for the father is three months prior to conception, while maternal exposure is most dangerous from the month before conception through the first trimester of pregnancy. Recent evidence suggests that pesticide exposure by pregnant mothers leads to higher risk of childhood leukaemia and other cancers, autism and respiratory illnesses. For example, neurotoxic pesticides can cross the placental barrier and affect the developing nervous system of the fetus, while other toxic chemicals can adversely impact its undeveloped immune system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Pesticides can also pass through breast milk. This is particularly worrying, as breast milk is the only source of food for many babies and their metabolism is not well developed to fight against hazardous chemicals. Pesticides are also found in baby formula, or in the water with which it is mixed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- One of the most catastrophic incidents involving pesticides occurred in 1984 in Bhopal, India, where approximately 45 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a Union Carbide plant as a result of negligence, immediately killing thousands of people and resulting in serious health issues and premature deaths for tens of thousands living in the vicinity. Epidemiological studies conducted soon after the accident showed significant increases in pregnancy loss, infant mortality, decreased fetal weight, chromosomal abnormalities, impaired associate learning and respiratory illnesses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107e
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Enact safety measures to ensure adequate protections for pregnant women, children and other groups who are particularly susceptible to pesticide exposure;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination is sometimes manifested in humiliating treatment women that may face in facilities that are dedicated exclusively to them, such as birthing facilities where, as repeatedly stressed by United Nations human rights mechanisms and WHO, they are too often subjected to degrading and sometimes violent treatment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106g
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Regulate birthing facilities to ensure respect for women's autonomy and privacy and human dignity, including respect for women's choice regarding home deliveries provided there are no specific medical contraindications;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106h
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Prevent instrumentalization of women in the birthing process and ensure that penalties are incurred for gynaecological or obstetrical violence, including performing abusive caesarean sections, refusing to give women pain relief during birth or surgical termination of pregnancy and performing unnecessary episiotomies;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Enjoyment of the rights to health and adequate housing by migrants 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child extensively provides for the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (art. 24). In that same article, obligations are placed on States to make every effort "to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services" by, inter alia, providing children with "necessary medical assistance and health care" and ensuring "appropriate prenatal and post-natal healthcare for mothers".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Enjoyment of the rights to health and adequate housing by migrants 2010, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In general, the constraints on the rights of adult migrants immediately have an adverse impact on the rights of their children, and in the long term, may inhibit the children's development. Reports suggest that poor working and economic conditions for migrant adults affect the general health and welfare of their children, as manifested in the birth of premature babies and increased risks of serious illness or death. Further, where migrant parents are deprived of health care, their children will also likely be deprived of such care.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Economic inequalities not only impair civil and political rights but also negatively affect the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. A good example is the right to health. According to the World Bank, "infants from poorer families and children from rural areas are more likely to die than their peers from richer families and urban areas" and the poor are "considerably less likely than the non-poor to have access to high-impact health services, such as skilled delivery care, antenatal care, and complementary feeding." The Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission found that "people from lower occupational classes who have less education and income tend to die at younger ages and to suffer, within their shorter lifetimes, a higher prevalence of various health problems" and that "these differences in health conditions do not merely reflect worse outcomes for people at the very bottom of the socio-economic scale but extend to people throughout the socio-economic hierarchy, i.e. they display a 'social gradient'". The World Health Assembly, in its resolution WHA62.14, has also affirmed the recommendation of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health on the need "to tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Female circumcision 1990, para. (b)
- Paragraph text
- [Recommends to States parties:] That States parties include in their national health policies appropriate strategies aimed at eradicating female circumcision in public health care. Such strategies could include the special responsibility of health personnel including traditional birth attendants to explain the harmful effects of female circumcision;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 1990
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Quality standards must take into account the fact that the amount of toxic substances to which a person can be safely exposed differs widely depending on the individual. Pregnant women in particular can be at higher risk of waterborne diseases from an intake of contaminated water. Standards on water, sanitation and hygiene quality must take into account the fact that women, especially when pregnant, have a lower tolerance for toxic substances.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Water, sanitation and hygiene needs are critical to prevent high maternal and newborn mortality rates. In its recently adopted general comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and reproductive health, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, as well as access to health-related education and information, are the underlying determinants to that right. Collaboration among sectors makes it possible to exchange information on how to deliver education on culturally taboo topics and to give greater priority to female-specific needs, in a manner that the water, sanitation and hygiene sector alone cannot achieve.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Pregnant women and women that have recently given birth and are still recovering from complications arising from labour are particularly vulnerable to the risk of infection related to a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. The Special Rapporteur's recent country visit to Tajikistan revealed the absence of a running water supply and adequate sanitation facilities in hospitals in the country. In addition, the Special Rappporteur testified, during his visit to Botswana, that a clinic situated in an area facing serious drought was still going through a procurement process to buy a water tank. In such critical places, where the most vulnerable persons are treated, measures must be upheld in contingency plans and implemented in advance. States must prioritize the provision to health centres of adequate water, hygiene and sanitation facilities, with the necessary budget allocations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights noted in a 2001 report on prisons in Malawi that prisons were not safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children and that it was not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mothers. Even very short periods in detention settings can undermine a child's psychological and physical well-being, compromise cognitive development and result in higher rates of suicide, self-harm, mental disorders and developmental problems (A/HRC/28/68). Children living in prison with their mothers may be at heightened risk of suffering violence, abuse and conditions of confinement that amount to torture or ill-treatment. In this context, the imprisonment of pregnant women and women with young children must be reduced to a minimum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In many States, children born with atypical sex characteristics are often subject to irreversible sex assignment, involuntary sterilization and genital normalizing surgery, which are performed without their informed consent or that of their parents, leaving them with permanent, irreversible infertility, causing severe mental suffering and contributing to stigmatization. In some cases, taboo and stigma lead to the killing of intersex infants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72b
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Decriminalize abortion and ensure access to legal and safe abortions, at a minimum in cases of rape, incest and severe or fatal fetal impairment and where the life or physical or mental health of the mother is at risk;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Female infanticide has been practiced throughout history, on all continents, and by persons from all backgrounds. It remains a critical concern in a number of countries today. It is closely linked to the phenomenon of sex-selective abortion, which targets female foetuses. Female infanticide has been known to take such forms as the induced death of infants by suffocation, drowning, neglect and exposure to danger or other means.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- In the case of India, international attention has been drawn to the vast divergence in the country's natural gender ratio, with estimates that in 2003 100 million women were "missing" from its population. It is estimated that one million selective female foetal abortions occur annually in India. There is no official statistical data available on female infanticide, but in the state of Kerala, it is estimated that about 25,000 female newborns are killed every year. The preadolescent mortality rate of girls under 5 years old was 21 per cent higher than for boys of the same age in India. Violence, as well as nutritional and deliberate medical neglect by girls' parents, was cited as the main causes of death.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children 2003, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is responsible for the majority of HIV infections in infants and young children. Infants and young children can be infected with HIV during pregnancy, labour and delivery, and through breastfeeding. States parties are requested to ensure implementation of the strategies recommended by the United Nations agencies to prevent HIV infection in infants and young children. These include: (a) the primary prevention of HIV infection among parents-to-be; (b) the prevention of unintended pregnancies in HIV-infected women, (c) the prevention of HIV transmission from HIV-infected women to their infants; and (d) the provision of care, treatment and support to HIV-infected women, their infants and families.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children 2003, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- To prevent MTCT of HIV, States parties must take steps, including the provision of essential drugs, e.g. anti-retroviral drugs, appropriate antenatal, delivery and post-partum care, and making HIV voluntary counselling and testing services available to pregnant women and their partners. The Committee recognizes that anti-retroviral drugs administered to a woman during pregnancy and/or labour and, in some regimens, to her infant, have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of transmission from mother to child. However, in addition, States parties should provide support for mothers and children, including counselling on infant feeding options. States parties are reminded that counselling of HIV-positive mothers should include information about the risks and benefits of different infant feeding options, and guidance on selecting the option most likely to be suitable for their situation. Follow-up support is also required in order for women to be able to implement their selected option as safely as possible.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children 2003, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Even in populations with high HIV prevalence, the majority of infants are born to women who are not HIV-infected. For the infants of HIV-negative women and women who do not know their HIV status, the Committee wishes to emphasize, consistent with articles 6 and 24 of the Convention, that breastfeeding remains the best feeding choice. For the infants of HIV positive mothers, available evidence indicates that breastfeeding can add to the risk of HIV transmission by 10-20 per cent, but that lack of breastfeeding can expose children to an increased risk of malnutrition or infectious diseases other than HIV. United Nations agencies have recommended that, where replacement feeding is affordable, feasible, acceptable, sustainable and safe, avoidance of all breastfeeding by HIV-infected mothers is recommended; otherwise, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended during the first months of life and should then be discontinued as soon as it is feasible.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children 2003, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The Committee wishes to emphasize the critical implications of proof of identity for children affected by HIV/AIDS, as it relates to securing recognition as a person before the law, safeguarding the protection of rights, in particular to inheritance, education, health and other social services, as well as to making children less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, particularly if separated from their families due to illness or death. In this respect, birth registration is critical to ensuring the rights of the child and is also necessary to minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS on the lives of affected children. States parties are, therefore, reminded of their obligation under article 7 of the Convention to ensure that systems are in place for the registration of every child at or immediately after birth.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph