More facilities for pregnant girls in Wanni

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) will provide more probation officers and paediatricians at the Chettikulam Government Hospital to meet the needs of pregnant mothers who arrived in the cleared areas during the past few months.

It is reported that about twenty-five pregnant mothers who came from the No Fire Zone (NFZ) were admitted to the Chettikulam hospital. NCPA Chairman Jagath Wellawatte told the Sunday Observer that his Authority has received information regarding the increase in the number of teenage pregnancies among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and he visited hospitals in the North last week to look into the welfare of such persons.

He said that almost all teenage girls who came to the cleared areas were given in marriage by their parents to prevent them being forcibly recruited to the LTTE as child soldiers.

"According to doctors in the Chettikulam Hospital, these teenage pregnant girls are given treatment to deliver babies, but 25 percent of them suffer from malnutrition," he said.

The NCPA Chairman has called upon the Health Department to study the matter further and provide the needs for these pregnant mothers. Asked what action has been taken by the NCPA on children in welfare camps, he said all of them are safe and not a single child abuse case has been reported so far due to the excellent facilities provided. He said in keeping with the duties of the NCPA, a special Monitoring Mission Unit (MMU) was set up in Vavuniya under the guidance of former DIG Daya Petikirikorala.

"In addition, six officials including female officers were also appointed to look into various other activities such as mental and physical abuses that could take place at welfare camps," he said.