ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 17.1 The Numbers............................................................................... 345 17.2 International Protection ............................................................... 348
17.2.1 International (United Nations) Provisions...................... 348 17.2.1.1 United Nations Charter ................................. 348 17.2.1.2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights ........ 349 17.2.1.3 International Covenant on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights............................. 349 17.2.1.4 Convention on the Rights of the Child.......... 350
17.2.2 Deficiency in the UN System ........................................ 350 17.2.3 A Word about the Millennium Development Goals ...... 353
17.3 Regional ....................................................................................... 354 17.3.1 The African System........................................................ 354 17.3.2 Problems with the African System.................................. 355
17.4 State ............................................................................................. 357
17.4.1 The State Constitutions ................................................. 357 17.4.2 Deficiencies in the State Constitutions........................... 359 17.4.3 The Paris Principles........................................................ 359
17.5 Local ............................................................................................ 359 17.6 Conclusion................................................................................... 360 Notes ...................................................................................................... 361
A Gordian Knot is a seemingly unsolvable problem. However, a bold innovative solution can be its undoing. Healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa represents such a problem. Unique policy measures must be enacted and enforced by local govern ments to untie the knot. Graca Machel, the former first lady of Mozambique* said that because of the AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) pandemic ‘‘we are facing extinction’’ [1]. Although this rings true, AIDS is not the only health issue responsible for the inordinate number of sub-Saharan African deaths, particularly when considering the death of children. The ‘‘extinction’’ is not solely an AIDS issue, it is a right to healthcare issue. That issue affects the entire world.
