Further protection of the right to health for women and girls is guaranteed by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women, including article 12 and article 14, paragraph 2 (b), which requires States parties to ensure access for rural women to adequate health-care facilities, including information, counselling and services in family planning. Noting the publicly expressed concerns of – in particular – women living in rural parts of Scotland such as the Highlands that access to necessary women’s health services, including gynaecology, is being negatively affected by the centralisation of services, the Commission wrote to NHS Highland seeking further information and evidence relating to the provision of women’s health in Caithness and Sutherland.