Fact:
Recently, the Ministry of Education is asking “Whether saliva tests administered in school require the consent of parents / legal guardians.”

Just a kind reminder:
On 17 March 2003, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its General Comment No. 3 [2003] entitled ” HIV/AIDS and the rights of the child” (hereinafter referred to as CRC/GC/2003/3)[1].

The general objectives[2] of the Comment CRC/GC/2003/3 are:

– To identify further and strengthen understanding of all the human rights of children in the context of HIV/AIDS[3] pandemic;

– To promote the realization of the human rights of children in the context of HIV/AIDS, as guaranteed under the Convention on the Rights of the Child[4];

– To identify measures and good practices to increase the level of implementation by States of the rights related to the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the support, care and protection of children infected with or affected by this pandemic; and,

– To contribute to the formulation and promotion of child-oriented plans of action, strategies, laws, polices and programmes to combat the spread and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS at the national and international levels.

Through this short study we want to bring to light the provisions of the paragraph 23 of CRC/GC/2003/3, of which we quote:

„The Committee wishes to stress that, as the duty of States parties is first and foremost to ensure that the rights of the child are protected, States parties must refrain from imposing mandatory HIV/AIDS testing of children in all circumstances and ensure protection against it.”

Regarding the mandatory testing and mandatory vaccination of the children, we wonder – How does the HIV virus pandemic differ from the SARS-COV-2 virus[5] pandemic?

Conclusion:
– Romania must refrain from imposing mandatory SARS-CoV-2 testing of children in all circumstances and ensure protection against it.

– We believe that any test for detecting any infection with any virus must take into account the opinion of the child subjected to the test, and must be accompanied, before performing the test, by the consent of the parents / legal representatives.

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[1] Committee on the Rights of the Child – CRC/GC/2003/3 available at https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fGC%2f2003%2f3&Lang=en
[2] In accordance with the provisions of par. 4 of. CRC/GC/2003/3.
[3] HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) which causes the disease called AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).
[4] Law no. 18 of September 27, 1990, for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, republished, Issuer – Romanian Parliament, published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 314 of June 13, 2001.
[5] SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) which causes the disease called COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019.

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PhD-student Paul-Augustin Puşcaş