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BC Medical Journal
Volume 49, Number
4,
May 2007, page 449
Council on Health
Promotion
Each of us
was once a child
Progress toward creating a Bill of Health
Care Rights for British Columbian children and youth
The BCMA is poised to be the first provincial medical
association to develop a Bill of Health Care Rights for
Children and Youth. The Child and Youth Health Committee
first introduced the concept to the Council of Health
Promotion in 2005. Working with partners including the
UBC Department of Pediatrics, the BC Pediatric Society,
and the International Association of Child Rights and
Development, the BCMA has drafted a bill for wider
discussion.
Understanding the health needs of children and youth is
important to hospitals, children-serving organizations
and agencies, and doctors and other health
professionals. Government, health authorities, and
boards of directors need a child-oriented filter with
which to examine governance responsibilities and
appropriately allocate resources.
This bill builds on the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child at the community level, and complements the
proposed Charter of Child and Youth Health introduced at
the Child Health Summit in April by the Canadian Medical
Association, the Canadian Paediatric Society, and the
College of Family Physicians. The Charter commits that
Canadian children and youth “have access to a safe and
secure environment; opportunity for optimal health and
development; and access to a full range of health
services and resources.” It addresses deaths from
unintentional injuries, infant mortality rates, obesity,
immunization, Aboriginal health, mental illness, and
determinants of health.
The intent behind the BC Bill of Health Care Rights is
to focus attention on the needs of children and youth
within health policy, planning, and provision. It will
serve as a guide for a common standard for government,
health authorities, hospitals, educators, health care
professionals, communities, social agencies, parents,
and other providers.
Skills, knowledge, expertise, and resources needed to
support and nurture children who do not have a strong
family environment should be provided on a consistent
basis across the province. It is important as a society
to understand and learn from past mistakes.
The need for a standard of care for children and youth
is especially important for the Ministry of Child and
Family Development, which is responsible for child
protection. A Bill of Health Care Rights for Children
and Youth will assist Ms Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC’s
new Children’s Representative. The bill will provide a
level playing field for children and youth who must
depend on services directed and provided by government.
The consequences of failing to rise to the challenge of
providing adequate health care to these children are
profound.
Adults are deeply affected by their childhoods. Many
chronic diseases originate in childhood, and lifelong
disabilities may be prevented with good perinatal and
pediatric care. Issues of growth and development
influence later mental health and intellectual capacity.
Health care provisions built on an understanding of
children and youth can avoid or lessen many of these
problems.
In the July/August 2005 issue of the BCMJ, the Child and
Youth Health Committee stated, “Children are often
pushed to the back of the line,” and this year the BCMA
passed the following resolution: “The BCMA calls on the
Ministry of Health to enable the creation of a BC bill
of rights for children and youth as it relates to their
health care needs.”
The next step is to engage providers, regulatory and
professional bodies, and parents and youth in a
collaborative workshop. A finished document is expected
to be ready for presentation to the BCMA Board by April,
2008, in preparation for the BCMA AGM, followed closely
by the AGM of the Canadian Paediatric Society in
Victoria next June.
The year 2008 marks 150 years since British Columbia
became a colony. What better way to demonstrate the
importance of children in the development and future of
British Columbia as “the best place on earth” than to
proclaim a bill that protects the health and rights of
children in this province. After all, each of us was
once a child!
—Basil Boulton, MD
Chair, Child and Youth Health Committee
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