Article 23
1. States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life,
in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in
the community.
2. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure
the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care,
of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to the child’s condition and to the
circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child.
3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2
of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial
resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled
child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services,rehabilitation services,
preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving
the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and
spiritual development.
4. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international cooperation, the exchange of appropriate
information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional treatment of
disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation,
education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to improve their capabilities and
skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard,particular account shall be taken of the
needs of developing countries.
Article 24
1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to
ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.
2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures:
(a) To diminish infant and child mortality;
(b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on
the development of primary health care;
(c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter
alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods
and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution;
(d) To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers;
(e) To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to
education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of
breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents;
(f) To develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.
3. States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional
practices prejudicial to the health of children.
4. States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international co-operation with a view to achieving
progressively the full realization of the right recognized in the present article. In this regard, particular
account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.
Article 25
States Parties recognize the right of a child who has been placed by the competent authorities for the
purposes of care, protection or treatment of his or her physical or mental health, to a periodic review of the
treatment provided to the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement.
Article 26
1. States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social
insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance
with their national law.
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