A.P. among five high-risk States: UNICEF report

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 13. The UNICEF's status report of 2001 on the world's children released here on Wednesday bracketed Andhra Pradesh, with respect to HIV/AIDS incidence, among the five high risk States of the country and called upon the Government to view the matter with necessary seriousness. Demanding the attention of policy makers in improving the conditions of children rather than rendering mere lip sympathy, it said unless urgent measures were adopted, the status of children would further slide down.

The UNICEF was considering assisting one medical teaching institution in the State to replicate its Karnataka programme of preventing mothers tested positive for the condition from passing on the same to their children. According to Dr.S.K. Chaturvedi, UNICEF representative, the programme envisaged supply of the costly anti-virus drug to mothers who tested positive for HIV/AIDS free of cost under the supervision of doctors of the institution.

The regimen would begin during the stage of labour pains and continue later. However, there was a problem here as breast- feeding should be preferably avoided. At the same time, asking a mother belonging to a family below the poverty line would deprive the child of what little nourishment it could have from being breastfed.

The report, focussing its attention partially on the issues associated with children in the age group of 0 to 3 three years, said the first three years were crucial in a child's life and for building a healthy society and the world, that period must be taken care of.

Demanding a change in the very attitude and philosophy towards human development, the report said that a belief that early investment in a child's life would reap benefits for both the child and his or her community was necessary.

Making a statement on the occasion, Dr. Chaturvedi said early childhood care was a human rights issue and added that children had a right to live to their full potential. Failing to invest in babies and toddlers resulted in a weak and economically depleted nation, he warned.

Linking care of babies and toddlers to the protection of women's rights, he emphasised on the pre and post-natal care. He said that poverty, violence and HIV\AIDS were three major reasons that prevented the countries from investing in children. He said that nations had lost their resources that could have gone into the development of children because of the three reasons.

With poverty, armed conflict and HIV and AIDS competing with early childhood for money and political will, many nations had failed to invest in their children, he said. Dr. Chaturvedi urged the political leadership to reduce the burden of external debt so that impoverished countries could invest in children instead of spending on debt servicing.

Earlier, releasing the report at the Raj Bhavan, the Governor, Dr.C. Rangarajan, said there was a compelling need to pay greater attention to the child's health, nutrition and sanitation. Investing in children's health and nutrition and was the most efficient and effective way of guaranteeing positive future returns, he said.

It meant taking care of mother during and after pregnancy, he said. Congratulating the UNICEF for the report, he hoped it would create sufficient awareness among the policy makers and philanthropic organisations to give due attention to young children and more particularly those who were below 36 months of age.

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