A/HRC/22/31 prevention of accidents. In addition, States parties are also required to take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing practices that are harmful to the health of children. 13. The Committee on the Rights of the Child regularly raises the issue of the right of the child to health in its dialogue with State parties, and makes recommendations for them in this regard. The Committee also refers specifically to this right in several of its general comments, including Nos.3 (HIV/AIDS), 4 (adolescent health), 7 (early childhood), 13 (the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence), 12 (the right of the child to be heard) and 10 (children’s rights in juvenile justice). 14. The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the interdependence and indivisibility of all the rights contained therein; the realization of the right to health is therefore indispensable for the enjoyment of all the other rights, and achieving the right to health is dependent on the realization of many other rights in the Convention. If a child is ill and does not have access to health-care services, the child cannot go to school and his or her right to education (art.28) will be effectively denied. Similarly, if other rights outlined in the Convention, such as the right to be free from violence (art.19) are not realized, there will be an immediate and negative impact on the child’s right to health. Other rights intrinsically linked to the realization of the right to health include the right to life and the right to non-discrimination, as well as the right to be protected from work that is likely to be harmful to the child’s health (art.32), the right to be free from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art.34) and the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art.37). The right to play (art.31) also becomes crucial when discussing children’s health, as play has been proven essential to the emotional and physical health and well-being of the child. 15. In accordance with general comment No. 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right of the child to health should not be construed as the right to be healthy as such, but rather as the right to conditions and services that ensure the enjoyment of the best health standards attainable under existing circumstances. Such an approach to health situates the realization of the right to health within the broader framework of international human rights obligations. The notion of the “highest attainable standard of health” takes into account both the child’s biological, social, cultural and economic preconditions and the resources available to the State, supplemented by resources made available by other sources, including non-governmental organizations, the international community and the private sector. 16. The right of the child to health comprises a constituent set of freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms, of increasing importance according to growing capacity and maturity, include the right to control one’s health and body. The entitlements include access to a range of facilities, goods, services and conditions that provide equality of opportunity for every child to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health. In addition to the provision of health information and services, the right to the highest attainable standard of health includes, inter alia, ensuring access to the services and programmes necessary to address the underlying determinants of health. 17. In addition, the implementation of any of the rights of the Convention, including the right to health, must be guided by the four general principles that constitute the main pillars of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Equality and non-discrimination 18. In order to achieve the full realization of the right to health for all children, States have an obligation to ensure that children’s health is not undermined by discrimination. A number of grounds on which discrimination is proscribed are outlined in article 2 of the 5

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