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| Saturday, 2 February 2002 |
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UNICEF to support Samurdhi health care program by Uditha Kumarasinghe The UNICEF will collaborate with the Samurdhi movement to improve the health care of children and mothers in Sri Lanka. The UN Resident Coordinator and UNICEF representative Mr.Collin Glennie said this when he met Samurdhi Minister R.A.D. Sirisena at his Ministry recently to discuss the five year program implemented by UNICEF to improve the health condition of children and mothers in Sri Lanka. Mr. Glennie was accompanied by Dr. Aberra Bekele and Dr. Yameen Mazumder. Mr. Glennie explained that the program aims to develop the health care of children from early stages. The early childhood covers the part of a child's life beginning with the pre-natal period and extends through the first five years of life. Dr. Bekele who made a presentation of the program mentioned that many children in Sri Lanka are malnourished. Malnutrition sets in during early childhood coinciding with the period when the survival of children is threatened. He said 75 per cent of a child's growth takes place during the first three years of life. Effects of what happens during the pre- natal period and during early years last for the entire life time. "The problems faced by Sri Lankan mothers due to ill treatment by husbands and conflicts in the family will have a lasting impression on children. Their ability to become responsible law abiding citizens will depend on the home environment," Dr. Bekele said. He said in this context, the UNICEF hopes to seek the assistance of Samurdhi Development Officers to educate the low income families to be more vigilant about the health care of mothers and preventing conflicts in families. The envisaged program will mobilise the available resources in the village level including the services of elders, the clergy, social workers and NGOs to combine their synergies to sustain a free family atmosphere, he said. Samurdhi Minister R.A.D. Sirisena pledged the assistance of the Samurdhi movement for the envisaged program. The Minister explained that some of the components included in the UNICEF program are being implemented by the Samurdhi movement at present. |
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