Children’s right to health : a contextual analysis of the influences of Jehovah’s Witness-guardians’ consent to life-saving medical procedures for children in Zambia

Abstract

This dissertation is divided into five Chapters. The first chapter provides the background and thereafter justifies the need for this research. It also includes the research questions, the methodology employed in undertaking this research, the literature review, and the limitations of the study. Chapter Two is the theoretical framework of this dissertation. It provides the theories which underpin and explain the interplay between JW guardians’ authority which form the basis of their children’s healthcare decisions on one hand, and children’s RTH on the other hand. Chapter Three examines the legal frameworks for the protection of children’s RTH in the United Kingdom and South Africa and further provides an analysis of the norms and operation of both legal frameworks. This is in order to highlight learning points for possible law reform in Zambia for attaining an effective framework for the protection of children’s RTH. Subsequently, Chapter Four delves into Zambia’s legal framework for the protection of children’s RTH. In view of the comparative study in the preceding Chapter, this Chapter identifies the weaknesses and gaps in Zambia’s children RTH framework by drawing lessons from the foreign laws examined. Subsequently, Chapter Five concludes the study. It summarises the findings and provides the appropriate recommendations for the implementation of effective and adequate children’s RTH framework in Zambia.