A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that in the Middle East, brain damage, diarrhea and malaria account for 43 percent of the deaths of children under the age of five. The shocking effects of environmental hazards on the health of children in general and those in the Middle East more specifically led the WHO to choose “Shape the Future of Life: Healthy Environments for Children” as its theme for World Health Day for 2003. The report states that more than 40 of the global burden of diseases associated with environmental hazards fall on children under the age of five — who ironically make up only 12 percent of the world’s population. More than 5 million children under the age of five died in 2000 as a result of illnesses aggravated by environmental hazards. The number of deaths is estimated at 13,000 children a day.
Diarrhea alone kills 3.1 million children a year as a result of poor diet, unsafe drinking water and improper hygiene regulations. Respiratory diseases, aggravated by indoor air pollution, cause the deaths of 2 million children a year. A further 400,000 children every year die as a result of injuries sustained during road accidents, from burns and poisoning. The WHO confirms that environmental hazards are aggravated by social circumstances such as poverty, natural disasters and man-made catastrophes such as wars, military occupation and civil unrest — all of which pose dangers to children who live through them, struggling and suffering in both body and spirit. This in turn has a great impact on their psychological and social development.
He Who Is Beaten Will Strike Back
A report by UNICEF states that in affluent and developed countries some 350 children under the age of 15 die every year as a result of violence and mistreatment. The report sheds some light on a long-ignored problem. According to the report, 2 children a week die as a result of violence in the UK and Germany, while the number rises to 3 a week in France.
In the United States, however, a shocking 27 children die every week as a result of violence.The mistreatment of children is an old social phenomenon that dates back many years. The cases of such violence have not always been carefully recorded, the reasons and motives behind such violence remaining unclear. Despite the lack of information and with a great deal of effort, the UNICEF report has been able to show us the countries where abuse of children is widespread. Topping the list is the USA and Mexico while at the bottom is Spain, Greece and Italy. The violence takes various forms but the most common is violence within the family. That violence exists everywhere, though the proportion may be slightly higher in poorer families.
Research has shown that this sort of violence is usually linked to the mother or father’s alcoholism. The studies also showed that parents who were mistreated, as children will in turn subject their own children to beatings and insults. It is expected that the UNICEF report will prod world governments to propose laws to punish with severity anyone who assaults a child.