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10 - Parents' decisions and children's health rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Jane Fortin
Jane Fortin
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
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Summary

Introduction

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognises that without good health, children have little hope of fulfilling their potential. Article 24(1) requires states to:

recognise 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.

Article 3 requires anyone reaching a decision relating to a child to give primary consideration to his or her best interests and Article 6 requires states to recognise every child's right to life, and to promote their survival and development. These requirements should not be too onerous for the UK to fulfil, with its well-established health service and comparatively good hygiene and living conditions – better by far than those in many developing countries. Nevertheless, advances made by medical technology sometimes confront parents and doctors alike with difficult dilemmas over what is the appropriate decision to reach.

This assessment of the law is divided broadly into two sections. The first deals with the extent to which children's right to life can be endangered by decisions relating to their health. The second deals with the extent to which children's rights are jeopardised by medical procedures, which though not life-threatening, may damage their health, to a lesser or greater extent.

Type
Chapter
Information
Children's Rights and the Developing Law , pp. 363 - 405
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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