Better Health, Better Lives: WHO Declaration on the Health of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

On 26 November 2010 health policy-makers from the 53 countries in the WHO European Region signed a Declaration on the Health of Children and Young People with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Families and an accompanying Action Plan.

The Declaration was signed at the WHO European Conference held in Bucharest, Romania. ECCL, as a member of the steering group for the Declaration, was actively involved in the development of both the Declaration and the Action plan.

The Declaration acknowledges that children and young people and their families are at risk of discrimination and stigmatisation, which leads to even greater inequalities in their health and development and ultimately to their exclusion from society. It sets out the following 10 priorities, which needs to be addressed by the countries ‘in a matter of urgency' in order to ensure that that the human rights of children and young people with intellectual disabilities are respected and promoted:

Protect children and young people with intellectual disabilities from harm and abuse
Enable children and young people to grow up in a family environment
Transfer care from institutions to the community
Identify the needs of each child and young person
Ensure that good quality mental and physical health care is coordinated and sustained
Safeguard the health and well-being of family carers
Empower children and young people with intellectual disabilities to contribute to decision-making about their lives
Build workforce capacity and commitment
Collect essential information about needs and services and assure service quality
Invest to provide equal opportunities and achieve the best outcomes

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