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A fragile and precious resource
A fragile and precious resource
A fragile and precious resource, children the world over need special care and protection in order to grow into healthy, productive adults. All too often they do not get enough of either. Millions die before they are five years old because they get too little food, or the wrong kind. Millions die of diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, and tuberculosis because they are not properly immunized against these diseases. Constant sickness and early death are common place for the millions who have to live without adequate food, clean water, or the most basic health and sanitation services,
Much has been done over the past 30 veers: Children near Kamazan, Iran (above), are among those who will benefit from a campaign to improve the country's health conditions. Vitamins, powdered milk, drugs, and soap have been provided for distribution through health centres which are being established in cities and provinces. In India (at right) schools are given plots of unused land where they harvest fruits and vegetables which are used in school lunches. This education programme enables the children to learn about nutrition and the value of co-operation. Afghanistan has a history of severe seasonal water scarcity, making it extreme!, vulnerable to drought conditions which have assumed unusually grave proportions during the past few years. However, the rural water supply programme enables these young village girls (far right) to fill their pots with pure and clean water from a pump. In Chad (facing page, bottom) kindergarteners learn proper nutrition at a school milk break as part of an education project. Schooling starts at an earlier age than ever before, and women attend classes in literacy and home-making and take their children to health centres where they learn modern methods of rearing them.
Despite these and other efforts to meet the needs of children throughout the world, much remains to be done. By placing children at the centre of world attention, the International Year of the Child hopes to refuel the search for a broader and deeper understanding of the magnitude of their needs.