The Right Way Forward – Health

What else does the UNCRC Committee say about children’s right to health?

The Committee on the Rights of the Child sometimes produces extra information to explain a right. These are known as General Comments. You can read more about children’s right to health in General Comment 15

Sustainable Development Goals:

This is also covered in Sustainable Development Goal 3.

How do young people feel our right to health is being met in Northern Ireland?

Do you think children in your community can get the health support they need?

• There are many resources for young people to get health support, but these are often not effective.
• Young people in rural areas can struggle to access health support independently.
• Many young people feel embarrassed or scared to reach out for support.
• Young people also may not be aware of some services in place.
• Waiting lists are a big issue for young people in Northern Ireland and its difficult to have to wait for a test or treatment that could really impact your life.
• Family wealth can cause inequality in healthcare for children whose families can’t afford to take them to private health care.

What are the biggest challenges for young people’s physical health?

• Children and young people often don’t have the knowledge of medical terms. We need more time with doctors and other medical practitioners to help them understand what is happening with them, what to expect next and how they can take part in decisions about their own healthcare pathways. This is especially important for young people with learning disability or neurodiversity.
• We need better healthcare information that is easy to find in places we use, both online and offline.
• Relationship and sexuality education is really inconsistent across schools. When we don’t get information in school or youth groups we look for it online which can lead to unreliable or malicious sources.
• Young people should be involved in ideas on how to reset the health service in Northern Ireland – we can help with innovative ideas to help target services better and tackle issues such as waiting lists.
• We don’t think it is fair that some children’s health is at a disadvantage because of what their families can afford to spend on nutritious food, leisure and health care.
• Vapes, smoking and drug use are things we see regularly. More needs to be done to stop vape companies targeting young people through flavours and colours available.

My Story 

You can read more about Elodie’s experience in her blog Living on a waiting list.

What do we want to happen?

1. The Public Health Agency should develop targeted messaging for young people on how to avoid and prevent disease and infection. This should include reliable information on vaccinations and spreading infections. This messaging should be available on platforms used by young people for example tiktok. There should also be information available for younger children and children with a learning disability in easy read formats – particularly for issues such as reproductive health, how tests will be carried out, accident prevention, preventing infections.
2. Government must tackle vaping among young people. Make sure vape flavours and marketing are not targeted towards young people and that there is clear messaging on the risks of vaping so it isn’t seen as a health alternative to smoking.
3. The education system should develop flexible approaches for children and young people with chronic or long term health conditions. It is important that children who miss school time due to illness or appointments can be brought up to speed easily.
4. Invest in different opportunities for young people to access health care. Review services such as school nurses and the text a nurse scheme to assess whether these improve access to health care and how they can refer on to additional care pathways. Access to treatment for clinically vulnerable families should be accessible through schools (eg physiotherapy, speech therapy, regular tests) to avoid them having to attend multiple settings where they could be exposed to infection.
5. Governments must make sure that all children and young people have access to healthcare across the country on an equal basis. There should be ringfenced funding to reduce waiting lists for children’s services as some conditions can have serious long lasting impact on health if not treated early.