Child’s dignity in suffering and death.

Abstract

The magnitude of unfair, absurd, pointless suffering we cannot accept or understand makes it a phenomenon which defies human logic - especially when it concerns children. The source of suffering of a dying child is pain, fear, failure to satisfy the basic human needs and concern about the parents. It is also heightened by medical procedures, including treatments aimed at preventing the unavoidable death. Such actions, resulting from the fear of death and a lack of acceptance of death as the end of life burdened with suffering, pose a risk to the child’s fundamental rights and violate the source of human freedom - one’s inalienable dignity. Our priority should be to unconditionally respect the children’s rights postulated by Korczak, to ensure that while providing holistic care for a dying child, their dignity is always considered the greatest good.