The role of citizens and their participation in the coming months – when the guidelines of the new Constitution will begin to be discussed at the convention – is essential to address the needs that have arisen in recent years. It is important to be able to question the rights that have been omitted or have not been guaranteed to this day.
As a Our Children Foundation we want to become part of the debate and contribute to the discussion. We have been working for 30 years supporting children and adolescents with cancer in Chile. In these years we have supported more than 16,000 children and their families, and we have provided some form of support to 100% of the child cancer units of Chile’s public system. There are needs that today, more than ever, become urgent. Collaborative work is essential, as it is the foundations that complement the work of the state, but we need to match the court as much as possible, and to be able to give children and adolescents with cancer, and their families, the same opportunities and a decent quality of life.
During these three decades, we have realized the omissions in law, on issues such as children and related health. Therefore, as a Our Children Foundation we develop seven principles on subjects that we believe are necessary to discuss in the convention that will set the “rules of the game” of the new Constitution. These are: Preventive health as a fundamental right; Right to live and die in dignity; Children and adolescents as preferred subjects of right; Right to unrestricted education for hospitalization or illness; Ensuring the reproductive right of children and adolescents with cancer; Equitable access and availability of decentralized and universal care; Universal mental health guaranteed by the state.
We want children to remain children despite their illness, so we hope that the new Constitution can build a foundation for all, and no one is left behind. We will do our best to be part of the discussion at the country level, and to be able to share our knowledge and the experiences that have marked us for 30 years.
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