A/HRC/23/59 maternal deaths happened in this group; this was an aspect of children’s health where success had not been achieved. Similarly, more progress needed to be made, given that the majority of deaths continued to be among the most disadvantaged children and young girls. The legally binding obligations of States arising from the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments were still not being enacted into national legislation. WHO was committed to the elimination of the preventable deaths of millions of children, but this required action and resources. Applying a human rights-based approach could lead to an improvement in children’s health. 10. With regard to measures taken by Uruguay to combat non-communicable diseases and their impact on the realization of the right to health, Dr. Giachetto stated that Uruguay had taken a crosscutting approach in its health policies and had set up special programmes devoted to pregnant women, and to children’s and adolescents’ health. It had also given consideration to the issue of infant mortality. Measures had been taken to promote training in good nutrition, and legislation had been introduced to help reduce cancer and substance abuse, including through a successful anti-tobacco policy and vaccination programmes for hepatitis B and human papilloma virus. Dr. Giachetto added that Uruguay addressed the right to health with an inclusive approach, and therefore also considered the impact of other social indicators on health. In particular, he emphasized the importance of the link between health and education. 11. Mr. Packer referred to the challenges faced by children in their access to highquality care. The principle of universal access to health required establishing how many people it would reach, how much would it cost and where to start to make it a reality. Achieving universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries was possible, but required bold steps by Governments and the international community. The focus should be placed on the mother, the child and reproductive health. An essential first step was to remove financial barriers to health services and to abolish fees. The second step was to ensure robust and sustained public funding for health by both national revenues and official development assistance. Third, States had to invest in quality of care, therefore investing in each element of the health system, from information to health workers, through to primary and secondary health care. Evidence was against levying fees for primary health care. With regard to the cost of universal health coverage, there was evidence from some countries that a 10-per-cent increase in national health budgets resulted in increased use of services and improvements in child health. 12. Tama, a child representative from Haiti, stated that the right of the child to health was the least prioritized because more emphasis was given to other rights, such as the right to education. Changes in government led to changes in programmes that could have an impact on a child’s access to health services. She added that, in fragile States or after emergencies, there were never enough health centres and doctors, and the quality of health care was poor. She asked the Human Rights Council to pay attention to those issues in their discussions. 13. Jonas, a child representative from Bolivia (Plurinational State of), stated that being healthy allowed children to study, play and be with one’s family. The right to health was important, because being a human was not possible without being healthy. Many deaths could be prevented by timely care and reasonable costs. Health care had to be affordable and also provided to all, including indigenous women, the poor and uneducated and young people. National legislation needed to be in place to allow significant changes to be made, and should be developed with the participation of children, who were not only the future, but also the present. 14. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography addressed the question of the impact of sexual exploitation on children and the links between the health and justice sectors. She stated that violence and sexual exploitation 5