3.1 Introduction

In the first two sessions in this module you learned about the international, regional and country laws relating to the rights of children. It should be clear that many of the rights in the UN Convention and the African Charter are directly relevant to health workers but obviously your role means that the right to health is particularly important. This session will look at a child’s right to health in more detail.

Both the UN Convention and the African Charter address the right to health. It is a fundamental social right that applies to every child. This study session will explain what the right to health actually means. It will describe how the right to health extends beyond the direct provision of health services, and the relationship it has with other rights. It introduces the idea of an approach to health that shows how children’s right to health can only be fully realised if all other rights are respected. The session will also outline the responsibilities of governments, health services and individual health workers.