The Charter is a document summing up basic principles that should be (and indeed are in some hospitals) common and normal in the care for hospitalized children.

We based our Czech translation, made in 1992, on the British NAWCH Charter (NAWCH - National Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital, renamed later to "Action for Sick Children" - ASC). The original English text is very precise and backed by much experience. It has served as a model for similar documents worldwide.

In former socialist Czechoslovakia, such a document was formally accepted by the local UNICEF branch in 1988. We found this version, however, unrealistic in some points and we were afraid that it somewhat decreased its authority and potential impact.

We therefore kept our translation closer to the original British version and consulted many parents of hospitalized children as well as some older adolescent patients about the final text.

In February 1993, we presented the translation at the regular meeting of Central Committee for Ethics in Medicine at the Ministry of Health. The discussion with the members of the Committee resulted in several, mostly stylistic, changes and the Committee then agreed on the following sentence that was tagged to our Charter:

"Wording of this Charter was approved by the Central Committee for Ethics in Medicine at the Ministry of Health."