Yemen Observer: http://www.yobserver.com
Posted in:
Local News
Written By: Abdul-Aziz Oudha
Article Date: Feb 26, 2008 - 1:04:33 AM
The public health ministry revealed that Yemen loses 80 thousand children annually due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and other illnesses. The ministry added that diarrhea itself is a major cause of child mortality in the country.
In a report prepared by Dr. Ali al-Midhwahi, Primary Health General Manager, it was stated that the child death rate in Yemen mounts to 120 out of every 1000, according to 2003 statistics. He added that in accordance with their commitments to millennium goals, Yemen needs to decrease this rate by 2015. The report was presented at the annual UNICEF inauguration report in Aden.
The report went on to say that if health performance in Yemen continues at the current standards, the country will not achieve its projected improvement in the child mortality rate.
UNICEF representative Abdo Karim Adbjawi said that many countries are still far from achieving their child mortality millennium goals, with Yemen being among these. The annual UNICEF international child situation report for 2008 announced that the world loses 26 thousand children daily, most of these living in developing countries. Yemen is among these countries where the children suffer from problems that can be dealt with in a proactive manner. Ahmed Salim Rubie Ali, Deputy Governor of Aden, attended the report presentation. The report pointed out that half of the world’s countries had moved towards achieving the fourth millennium goal; however others are still lingering behind.
The report attributed the women and child victims to negligence, harassment and exploitation; malnutrition is blamed for childrens’ and mothers’ deaths. It also called for the media to focus on the issues that negatively affect children and women.
Abdullah Ali Khamis, Motherhood and Childhood representative, highlighted the importance of children rights, which is the core of the Child Agreement charter. He asserted that Yemen had adopted a number of policies and strategies which will positively affect child care, protection and development.
Among the strategies is the decrease of population growth and improvements in reproductive health, which have decreased the population growth rate, according to a 2004 census.
The infant death rate decreased from 75 to 79 out of every 1000, whereas malnutrition for those under five years of age dropped from 52 to 46 percent.
The recent polio immunization campaign coverage rate reached 76 percent. Al-Khamis pointed out that the enrollment rate in basic education rose from 55 to 75 percent, and from 13 to 31 percent in secondary schools.
A workshop was held to focus on the media’s role in child health and child survival, training journalists on tracking the true news and how to employ it in promoting mother, child and citizens’ awareness. It also reviewed the obstacles facing journalists in identifying the causes of child deaths, and the media’s role in decreasing them.
The Yemeni dramatists association also presented a short show entitled ‘Together for Children’s Survival’.