The right to health requires countries to take a position in maternal and child health. Progress in maternal and child health depends on improvements during a range of areas both within and beyond the health sector. Women and youngsters are entitled to the very best attainable standard of health: this necessarily includes access to adequate health care services and to a good and adequate allocation of resources for maternal and child health. Women and youngsters may face discrimination in access to the vital role of law health care thanks to the stigma related to particular diseases and conditions, including HIV and AIDS, diabetes, and prolapse of the uterus. Women face mistreatment from service providers, reducing their ability to access care or their willingness to interact with the health system. Women can also face discrimination or harassment that interferes with their right to breastfeed infants. Discrimination and inequality can impair women’s ability to maneuver freely, to have property and to regulate their fertility – each of which may threaten a woman’s ability to access health care or to guard her health and therefore the health of her children. Discrimination against indigenous persons also can have a disproportionate impact on women and youngsters.
