BUJUMBURA June 19th (ABP) – State Parties to the African Youth Charter undertake to pursue the full implementation of the right of every young person to enjoy the highest standard of physical, mental, social and spiritual health, according to Article 16 of the said Charter adopted on July 2, 2006, in Banjul, The Gambia.
Through that right of young Africans to good health, section 2 of the said article specifies that the States Parties to the Charter take measures aimed at providing easy and equitable access to medical assistance and health services, particularly in poor rural and urban areas, with particular attention to the development of basic health services. It also aims to ensure the participation of young people in identifying their needs in the areas of reproduction and health, and to meet those needs with special attention to young people who are marginalized or in precarious situations.
Those States have a duty to guarantee easy and equitable access for young people to services related to reproductive health, including services relating to contraception and services before and after childbirth. They also have a duty to set up specific programs aimed at combating pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The States Parties to the African Youth Charter also have the duty to put in place comprehensive programs for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases or infections and HIV/AIDS through education, information, communication and raising awareness, as well as through facilitating access to protective measures and reproductive health services.
In the same line of ideas, they have a duty to further popularize and encourage the use of voluntary and confidential HIV/AIDS counseling and testing services by young people, to promote timely access to treatment for young people infected with HIV/AIDS, including prevention services, mother-to-child transmission, post-rape prophylaxis, antiretroviral therapy and the establishment of specialized health centers and services for young people, ensuring food support for young people living with HIV/AIDS and implementing comprehensive programs including, among other things, legislative measures to prevent illegal abortions.
According to the same article 16, those States undertake to take legislative measures such as the prohibition of advertisements and the increase in prices in addition to prevention and rehabilitation programs, in order to control the consumption of tobacco, the exposure to tobacco smoke and alcohol abuse. They are also committed to raising awareness among young people about the dangers of drug use through a partnership with young people, youth organizations and the community. Another commitment of those States concerns the strengthening of local, national, regional and international partnerships to eradicate the request for, supply of and trafficking in drugs, including the use of children in drug trafficking.
Finally, those States undertake to ensure the rehabilitation of young drug addicts so that they can reintegrate into social and economic life, to provide technical and financial support for strengthening the institutional capacities of youth organizations, to take charge of public health concerns, including young people living with disabilities and young people married at an early age