Japan provides US$ 3.8 million to protect Myanmar children's healthFunds pledged to UNICEF for HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, child vaccination YANGON, 09 November 2005 – The Government of Japan has pledged US$ 3.8 million to UNICEF in Myanmar to support immunization, malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS prevention efforts for children in 2006. Today His Excellency Mr. Nobutake Odano, Ambassador of Japan, and UNICEF Representative in Myanmar Ms. Carroll C. Long signed an Agreement to Improve Maternal and Child Health Care Services, in the presence of Ministry of Health officials. “Now, more than ever, we need the support of the international community to help us protect Myanmar’s children from HIV/AIDS, malaria, measles and other killers of children,” said UNICEF Representative Carroll Long. “Thanks to the generosity of the Japanese Government, many more children’s lives will be saved next year.” Japan’s latest pledge will allow UNICEF and its health partners in Myanmar to: • Immunize all under-one children in Myanmar against measles; • Immunize over half a million women of childbearing age against tetanus, which also protects their newborns against the disease; • Protect children against malaria by providing 70,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to households with young children or pregnant women; • Provide anti-malaria drugs and test kits for 100,000 people; • Prevent the mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS through the provision of Nevarapine and other drugs; and • Provide protection against some of the leading killers of infants and children in Myanmar such as diarrhea, respiratory infections and parasites through the provision of basic drugs. Assistance will also be used to monitor the implementation of these child and maternal health programs, to help ensure those most in need are reached. “So many children need not die from preventable and treatable diseases," said UNICEF Representative Carroll Long. “What it takes is a strong commitment to the best interests of children, backed by strong financial support. UNICEF thanks Japan for being a leader in our collective work to save children’s lives in Myanmar.”
*************** The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) establishes that children have the right to life, health treatment and maximum survival. Myanmar ratified the CRC in 1991. Jason Rush
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