KARACHI: 60 out of 1,000 infants die yearly: Paediatrics conference opens
KARACHI, Feb 14: Pakistan is one of those countries that has the highest infant mortality which reflects the poor state of health care provided to women and newborn babies.
Speaking at the inauguration of a three-day 16th Biennial International Paediatrics Conference of the Pakistan Paediatrics Association, the Sindh governor, Mohammedmian Soomro, said 45 per cent of the population was under the age of 15 years.
He added that the statistics about the health of the country’s children showed that the situation was very bad as compared to that of neighbouring Saarc countries.
“It is disturbing to note that infant mortality in Pakistan is 60 deaths per 1,000 live births.”
He said that the major health problems that women and newborn babies faced in the country were malnutrition and infection, adding that these problems should be addressed aggressively and sincerely.
The Sindh governor highlighted the role played by doctors in not only saving lives and but also taking care of the mental and physical health of the young.
He observed that the government attached great priority to child care which consisted in ensuring that not only a pregnant woman received required nutrition but also delivered her baby properly.
The governor emphasized the importance of the paediatrics conference and said the government, specially the one in Sindh, would like to benefit from the vast experience of many learned specialists and scientists gathered for the conference. He requested them to forward the discussions and recommendations of the conference to the provincial health department.
WORKSHOP: Presenting an overview of child abuse in the country, Dr Naeem Zafar, the focal person, child rights and abuse committee of the PPA, said a national policy and plan of action against child sexual abuse was awaiting cabinet approval to help pave way for efficient handling and prevention of child rights violations. He was speaking at a workshop on child rights and abuse during the 16th International Biennial Paediatric Conference.
“The initiative has been taken due to the low status given to children in society keeping in view their dependence and vulnerability,” Dr Zafar said.
He said the policy and plan of action had been formulated by the PPA following studies and research done in collaboration with different professional bodies as well non-governmental organizations. He added that 15 per cent to 25 per cent children in the country were identified to be sexually abused at one point of time their lives or another, once or more than once.
Regretting the absence of school health programmes in Pakistan, he also referred to another study identifying 31 per cent of school-going children in the country to be suffering from hearing defects. These were besides the cases lying undiagnosed and untreated.
“A Karachi-based study reveals that 88.7 per cent of school-going children are physically abused,” he said.
The PPA focal person also mentioned that some 3.3 million children in the country were also estimated to be working as labourers, many of them involved in worst kind of labour.
Dr Harindera de Silva from Sri Lanka, in his presentation titled “Management of Child Sexual Abuse in Clinical Setup”, referring to common changes in the behavioural pattern of the victims also discussed simple modes to examine reported cases and ascertain accuracy.
Dr Amin Gadit, Hamdard Medical University, discussed “Emotional Abuse in Children” and suggested the law mandatory for pre-marriage education and counselling of would-be couples with particular reference to their behaviour with their issue and also with each other in presence of their children.
Dr Tufail M. Khan, chairman of the child rights and abuse committee, spoke about the objectives of the workshop.—Agencies
