Human Rights Declaration:Article 25

I ask myself if it's true what's expressed in the twenty-fifth Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

«(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack ok livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.»

«(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.»

Why should some people have to suffer bad diseases without like AIDS, cancer or any other kind of illness without being under medical supervision? They have to suffer horrible pains and the families have to see how a member dies and another and another. That's immoral and a violation of this right, because everyone has the right to have a medical care and social services. What's happened with people? Has society forgotten that they are human beings as well?

Health is a concept that includes a lot of activities. Some are being in charge of the attention and care of the different diseases that people suffer; others are in charge of the operations that they have to pass to make sure that they are going to survive and as well all of the treatments that they need to be sure that they are going to be healthy in the different ages of their lives. If we compare the possibilities that any human being has to live in adequate conditions of life, we know that the situation completely changes depending on the place they have been born, having many possibilities in some places and none of them in others. We could define that situation “the geography of the world’s health”. These situations can be found in places where they haven’t got many possibilities of surviving and still less for women and children, who most times are poorer and suffer worse diseases. A part from that, they are weaker than others and they have to do the hardest type of work and their life expectancy is lower. This reality can be defined “the injustice of the world’s family”. health and life expectancy shows us the dimension of the injustice and the distribution of the human rights.

There is more violation of the rights than what can be seen in the way of living of these poor people. There are many that don't have a house in good conditions. They live under walls of cardboard that can be blown up with a simple whistle. And what happens with their beds? It's very simple and sad, they haven't got any, and if they are a bit lucky they could have something similar, but still not so good for their backs. Children are sent to garbage dumps to see if they can find something to eat or to sell. It's very dangerous because of the rotten tins, food in decomposition, syringes, etc are all over the place. They are exposed to terrible infections that can end with their death. Again they haven't got any medical supervision and they can’t do anything against it. Most of these poor people that are condemned to live in poverty can't fight against it. They need our help and we have to know that it isn't an act of charity. It's an obligation. What will happen if we don't react quickly? It's something that every human being should have in mind and be conscious.

These circumstances that are seen in the third world can’t make us forget that the third world exist as well in the first world. In the big cities of the most developed nations, people that come from the poorest places of the world are living in situations that aren’t acceptable for the country’s citizens. Is it necessary to add to the actual «Declaration of Human Rights» some articles to make sure that the invisible human beings become visible?

Ana Delgado

1º Bachillerato