Denial to Children's Right to Good Health: Case of Child Immunization in Rural Area

Negligence towards provision of good health to people particularly disadvantaged and marginalised ones is well known and is considered as violation of human right. There is little attention to the fact that many a times people themselves reject measures meant for improving their health status. This may be due to prevalent social and cultural values and inherent attitudes. People are free to decide about their own health, the measures they opt for maintaining good health or the procedure they seek in for cure. Their decision becomes a issue of discussion under human rights when it has affect on health and life of their children as well as other individuals. A case in point is rural society where people reject child immunization for some reasons. This not only exposes children to serious health risks but also negatively affects process of eradication of infectious diseases. This paper is based on a study carried out in villages of Lucknow district. It aims to explore the issue of human right to health in context of denial to immunization to children.