Ghana government asked to bear medical expenses of violated children
Mrs Eunice Baabu, Chief Executive Officer, Safe Child Ghana, has called on government to fully foot the medical bills of violated children as part of measures to rehabilitate their young and fragile lives.
“We need to, for instance, incorporate the cost of medical tests and medication of child rape victims into the NHIS system to ease off the financial burden on parents”,she said.
Mrs Baabu was addressing the second Tema Child Safety Conference in Tema.
The conference is Safe Child Ghana’s initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, World Health Organisation (WHO) Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU),Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Organised on the theme, “Safe Children, Safer Communities”, it created the platform for stakeholders to evaluate child protection issues discussed at the first Tema Child Safety Conference in 2014.
Mrs Baabu asked political parties not to use children for advertisement and campaigns lest their innocence would be exploited for partisan and divisive political gains.
Mr Emmanuel Nartey, Coordinating Director, TMA, called for a more aggressive policy to protect children in Ghana.
“Ghanaians have cultures that sweep a lot of vices and crimes against children under the carpet, but which have lingering effects on their development,” Mr. Nartey observed.
According to him, some of these vices, such as acquaintance rape, “marginalize and psychologically scar the child for ever and society would have to pay for it the hard way in future as such victims could become rebellious and unforgiving”
Mrs. Victoria Natsu, Head of Human Trafficking Unit, Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, a representative of the sector minister at the conference, cautioned against the excessive use of mobile phones by children.
She indicated that even though the device has some good uses, there were some functions on them that could harm children if not properly managed.
She also advised the children who were drawn from the St. Pauls Methodist and the Adjei Kodjo Junior High Schools within the Tema Metropolis, to watch less foriegn soap operas aired by almost all Ghanaian television stations as they mislead the child on the true realities of life.
Rev. Dr. P.E.T. Sefogah, the Presiding Bishop, A.M.E Zion Church, Tema, and the Chairman for the occasion, advised all to team up to protect children.
He advised the children to “make your parents and teachers your first point of getting information and not your friends and focus on your vision for life.”
In its plan of action, the forum demanded the need for the Tema Metropolitan Assembly to collaborate with the Police, Environmental Health Service and Social Welfare Departments to rid the streets of mental patients who pose as threats to children within the Metropolis.
Tema was also to be included in the road signs and markings exercise by the National Road Safety Commission as a way of making our roads safe for children.
“There is the need to intensify education at club levels in the various schools to enlighten mostly the adolescent concerning issues relating to HIV, teenage pregnancy, personal hygiene, etc.
Safe Child Ghana is a registered non governmental organisation committed to the protect of children from abuse, injury and the promotion of child development through advocacy, empowerment, research and education.
Source: GNA