Human Rights
Human Rights
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In recent years, China’s government has lifted some of its tight restrictions on the country’s long-dormant civil society. Senior Chinese officials have shown a growing awareness about the need to mobilize civil society in order to combat a range of social problems, ranging from humanitarian relief to education and legal defense. As a result, many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), grass-roots groups, and non-profit websites have sprung up around the country. Download this publication |
| The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) conceptualizes the rights of children, their parents, and society in an interdependent and developmental fashion. To-date, all states but one have ratified the CRCi. The CRC places an obligation on governments to ensure that as children mature, they can take an increasing role in decisions affecting their capacity. It is this complex balance of rights and responsibilities among the state, parents, and children that frames and cuts across the human rights considerations of HIV testing for children and adolescents. Download this publication |
| Exclusive breastfeeding – breastfeeding with no other food or drink, not even water – is the ideal mode of infant feeding for the first six months of life. For optimal growth, development and health, infants should be exclusively breastfed for their first six months, and should then receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods, while breastfeeding continues up to 24 months or beyond. Download this publication |
| In 1985, a foreign tourist visiting southeast China became the first person in the country to be diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Nearly two decades later, China faces what could be the largest AIDS epidemic in the world. Already, the virus has cut a devastating swath across the country, affecting at least 1.5 million men, women, and children. In fact, the numbers are probably much higher3-- actual infection rates remain unclear in China, because local authorities have minimized the epidemic in order to protect external investment in local economies. During the 1990s, local authorities were also complicit in the transmission of HIV to hundreds of thousands or even millions of villagers through an unsanitary but highly profitable blood collection industry. Download this publication |
| HIV/AIDS is one of a number of killer diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, cancer and heart disease. What is different about HIV/AIDS is that it impacts not only the physical health of individuals, but also their social identity and condition. The stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS can be as destructive as the disease itself. Download this publication |
| There is increasing recognition that public health often provides an added and compelling justification for safeguarding human right, despite the respect, protection and fulfillment which they merit in their own right. Download this publication |
