United nations crc

Table 9

Reported cases of positive pulmonary tuberculosis in children under 14 years of age

Governorate		1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2001	Total
1.	Capital Municipality	14	10	15	16	13	11	79
2.	Aden	12	8	12	13	14	8	67
3.	Hodeidah	21	15	20	23	23	21	123
4.	Ibb	9	16	13	15	14	12	79
5.	Dali’	7	4	6	5	3	2	27
6.	Hadramawt	5	4	2	1	0	3	15
7.	Mahwit	4	5	6	8	2	7	32
8.	Ta’izz	19	26	32	25	37	24	163
9.	Abyan	7	6	0	4	3	3	28
10.	Dhamar	3	4	0	7	6	8	33
11.	Amran	8	9	10	11	14	7	59
12.	Lahij	4	5	4	6	4	5	28
13.	San’a	2	3	7	8	4	6	30
14.	Ma’rib	1	3	1	0	0	4	6
15.	Jawf	0	1	1	0	0	4	6
16.	Bayda’	1	5	6	11	4	9	36
17.	Hajjah	19	11	15	18	10	20	93
18.	Mahrah	0	2	1	0	0	0	3
19.	Shabwah	0	2	2	3	4	0	11
	Total	137	142	166	177	159	151	932

193. Health promotion: The Government is mobilizing all official and traditional means of information, education and communication in order to promote the health of the population through a variety of activities, particularly in regard to healthy lifestyles and protection from infectious disease. It is also taking care to include child health issues in all curricula used in education, technical and vocational training and higher education. In that connection, it is imperative to activate the role of schools in health. The National Centre for Health Information and Education (which cooperates with WHO) is the apparatus responsible for playing the support role and coordinating all actors. The Ministry of Public Health and Population produces the manuals needed for the purposes of information, education, communication and counselling, as well as for training health personnel, particularly in personal communication skills, and personnel working in various areas of the mass media.

194. Non-governmental organizations working in the health sector: A substantial number of services in a variety of fields are provided by several of the non-governmental organizations working in the health sector, such as the Yemeni Family Welfare Society, which has been involved in reproductive health and family planning for over a quarter of a century, the Charitable Society for Social Reform, the Association for the Development of Women and Children, the National Anti-AIDS Society, the Society for the Disabled, the Challenge Association, the Lantern Association and others. Some of the successes of each will be mentioned elsewhere in the report.

195. The private sector: The Government encourages investment in the private sector, which has greatly prospered, thereby assisting the delivery of its services, including maternal and child health services, to those in a position to use them. The reach of private-sector services is also being extended to benefit the poor.

196. Disabled children: The Centre for Prosthetic Limbs and Physiotherapy supplies prosthetic limbs for disabled persons and primary means of mobility for invalids. It employs a large number of people who are themselves disabled and is run by a double-foot amputee. Various ministries are also required by law to employ a number of disabled persons in their facilities.

197. The issue of a birth certificate for each child and its linkage with health: Every child who is newly born in health establishments or under health supervision is registered with the Civil Registration Department, which issues the birth certificate after the newborn health certificate is obtained and coordinates with the Ministry of Education, as the admission of children to public or private schools is still linked to this day with the health card and the teething certificate. However, 75 per cent of births take place in the home and citizens do not go to obtain a birth certificate and give immediate notification of births, even though the Civil Registration Department has branches in every governorate and its directorate.

198. Female circumcision: Using the Yemen Demographic and Maternal and Child Health Survey, the Central Statistical Office compiled the statistics on female circumcision and harmful traditional practices for the first time ever and found that approximately 22 per cent of women are circumcised. In the survey conducted by the Girls’ Health Project in areas where, according to the findings of the above Survey, female circumcision is commonly practised, it was found that:

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  The clitoris and the labia minora were removed in 69 per cent of circumcisions;
  
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  The clitoris alone was removed in 20 per cent of circumcisions;
  
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  The labia minora alone were removed in 8 per cent of circumcisions;
  
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  The clitoris, labia minora and labia majora were all removed in 2 per cent of circumcisions.
  

199. These customs are practised on girls during their first two weeks of life. The Yemen Demographic and Maternal and Child Health Survey, conducted in 1997, showed that 8 per cent complained of haemorrhage, 4 per cent complained of pain, 1.5 per cent complained of fever and a number mentioned difficulty in urinating and the formation of pus.

200. Measures adopted in this field: The Ministry of Public Health and Population promulgated a decree prohibiting the use of government facilities for the purpose of circumcision. On the basis of the above statistics, the general secretariat of the National Population Council has referred to this type of misguided practice against female children in its publications. These include the manual for health personnel, which aims to deepen their awareness so that they can combat the ways and customs leading to female genital mutilation and consequent damage to health. The manual also lists the potential harmful effects, both shortterm and long-term, caused by the practice of such customs.

201. Difficulties encountered in delivering primary health care services and other health services:

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  The prevalence of illiteracy, particularly among women;
  
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  The heavy work burden on pregnant women;
  
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  Harmful traditional practices;
  
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  The limited expenditure on health in the general State budget (4.5 per cent), together with the high growth in population, which in 2001 stood at 18,830,000 persons. Of these, some 60 per cent were children and mothers, a high percentage which places a heavy burden on society and the State in regard to meeting the need for maternal and child health services;
  
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  The wide dispersal of the population and the difficulty of delivering primary health care services to remote areas;
  
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  Poor planning and the unfair distribution of services, leading to a decline in the quality of health services in general;
  
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  The poverty, unemployment and economic decline affecting many groups of inhabitants, particularly in rural areas, making it extremely difficult for mothers and children to travel to the nearest health facility for the purpose of obtaining health services and treatment in view of the financial burden entailed.
  

202. Water and sanitation: Between 50 and 60 per cent of water sources are now clean, particularly in towns. During the period 1997-2001, 740 projects were implemented to carry out civil and mechanical works from which approximately 1,963,033 persons benefited in all governorates.