December 12, 2002	Thursday	Shawwal 7, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 11: Federal health minister Mohammad Nasir Khan on Wednesday said education and health were pre requisite for overall development and stressed the need for diversion of more public funds for their development.

He said this at the launching ceremony of the Unisef’s “The State of the World’s Report 2003” here on Wednesday. The focus of the report is “Child Participation”. The report was officially launched at Mexico city on Wednesday.

The health minister said Pakistan had the poorest indicators as far as living conditions for the children were concerned that needed a comprehensive and innovative strategy on the part of the public and the private sectors.

“The child mortality rate is still very high (109) in Pakistan, whereas the same indicator is 19 in Sri Lanka, 42 in Iran and 77 in Bangladesh,” the minister said. He was of the view that the present dismal state of Pakistani children was due to low literacy rate, poor immunity (less than 56 percent), low birth weight (21 percent), ignoble contraceptive prevalence rate (30 percent), lack of exclusive breast-feeding (16 percent) and rampant respiratory infection and diarrhoea.

The health minister also underlined that the health policy should regard health sector investments as part of the Poverty Alleviation plan.

Commenting on the report, he said, it had rightly pointed out that children must be given an opportunity to participate in the development process and their voices must be listened to more carefully.

Unicef country representative in Pakistan Ms Carroll C. Long speaking on the occasion termed the report as a right step in the right direction.

“The theme of this year’s report - the participation of young people - is one of the great leaps forward in how it asks us to view young people represented here today as individuals with something to say, who have talent, ideas and can make valuable contributions,” she said.

Appreciating Sher and Waris, two boys from Balochistan Boy scouts who have helped enrolled around 2,500 new girl students in one year, she said: “I have been in Pakistan for the last two years and have seen the idea of young people’s participation taking hold in people’s mind and hearts.”

Saleha Waqar, a young student, who had recently won the national essay writing competition held to celebrate this year’s Universal Children Day, called on the adults to bury differences for the common good of the children.

Ms Sana Wahid, a member of Pakistan Women’s Swimming Team, said: “I want to be a source of inspiration for the young women of the country.”

According to Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of Unicef, whose message was read out on the occasion said: “Enabling children and adolescents to participate constructively in their communities and nations is crucial to nurturing their inherent optimism and preparing them for a constructive and meaningful adulthood.”