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Promoting children's rights to health and well-being in the United States
Audrey R Chapman1, Luca Brunelli2, Lisa Forman3
1Department of Public Health Sciences, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, USA.
Insights
The US spends more on pediatric healthcare but achieves worse outcomes. Adopting a child rights framework, like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, could improve children's health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Public Health Policy
- Children's Rights
Background:
- The US leads in pediatric healthcare spending but lags in child health outcomes compared to industrialized nations.
- Disparities in access to affordable healthcare persist for many US children.
- International comparisons highlight the success of universal healthcare within children's rights frameworks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the benefits of adopting a child rights approach for improving pediatric healthcare in the US.
- To analyze the potential impact of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on US child health outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of healthcare systems and outcomes in industrialized nations.
- Review of the principles and provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Examination of the relationship between healthcare investment, children's rights, and health results.
Main Results:
- Despite high spending, US children experience poorer health outcomes than peers in nations with universal healthcare.
- The US remains the sole UN member state not to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Nations with lower healthcare investments achieve superior child health outcomes, indicating potential for improvement.
Conclusions:
- A child rights-based approach, aligned with the UN Convention, offers a viable strategy to enhance US pediatric healthcare.
- Implementing principles of the Convention can lead to better health outcomes and equitable access for all children.
- The success of other nations demonstrates that improved child health is attainable with strategic policy shifts.
Abstract:
The United States has a highly sophisticated pediatric healthcare system and spends more than any other country per capita on children's healthcare. However, not all children have access to needed and affordable health care and the life expectancy and health outcomes of children in the country are worse than in any other industrialized nation. These nations typically offer universal healthcare for children as part of a robust recognition of a children's rights framework. In 1989 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child that recognizes the right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. Currently the United States is the only United Nations member country that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This paper outlines the potential benefits of adopting a child rights approach based on the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The fact that countries who invest much less in healthcare compared to the United States can achieve better health outcomes provides the certainty that a solution is possible and within reach.
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