The Child-Friendly Healthcare Initiative (CFHI): Healthcare Provision in Accordance With the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

"ABSTRACT. Objective. Although modern medical technology and treatment regimens in well-resourced countries have improved the survival of sick or injured children, most of the world’s families do not have access to adequate health care. Many hospitals in poorly resourced countries do not have basic water and sanitation, a reliable electricity supply, or even minimal security. The staff, both clinical and nonclinical, are often underpaid and sometimes undervalued by their communities.

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In many countries there continues to be minimal, if any, pain control, and the indiscriminate use of powerful antibiotics leads to a proliferation of multiresistant pathogens. Even in well-resourced countries, advances in health care have not always been accompanied by commensurate attention to the child’s wider well-being and sufficient concerns about their anxieties, fears, and suffering. implementation of the pilot scheme in 6 countries. In hospitals providing maternity and newborn infant care, the program will be closely linked with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative of WHO/UNICEF that aims to strengthen support for breastfeeding.

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Pediatrics 2000; 106:1054 –1064; United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, child protection, breastfeeding, pain control, palliative care, child abuse. ABBREVIATIONS. UNICEF, United Nations Children’s Fund; WHO, World Health Organization; BFHI, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative; CFHI, Child Friendly Healthcare Initiative; UNCRC, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; CAI, Child Advocacy International; EACH, European Association for Children in Hospital."