25,000 street children vulnerable to diseases
The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on the
occasion of the International Health Day organised
a rally on Monday near the Mochi More, Korangi,
urging the authorities concerned to take necessary
steps to protect the increasing number of street
children in the city from diseases and different
forms of exploitation.
The walk organised by Society
for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
(SPARC) and Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition
Association (PAVHNA) titled “Every child
has a right to good health” was largely
attended by the street children, child activists,
students and teachers.
They urged the government to
create awareness on HIV and Aids and other sex
related diseases to save street children.
Speakers said more than 25,000
children were living on streets in the city. They
said there were some 70,000 children living on
the streets in the country. An estimated 7,000
children live on the streets in Lahore, 10,000
in Faisalabad, 2,500 in Quetta, 3,000 in Rawalpindi
and 5,000 in Peshawar.
Nazra Jahan of Sparc said street
children were one of the most vulnerable groups
for all forms of exploitation. They were at high
risk of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and
AIDS because of their early exposure to both heterosexual
and homosexual practices.
Co-ordinator PAVHNA Ms Munizha
said they were addressing the vulnerabilities
of street children in the targeted areas. PAVHNA
had set-up five drop-in centres (DICs) in Karachi,
through which it provided information on better
life skills to the street children.
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