LET’S INVEST ADEQUATELY IN OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE

Children are the future of any society. It can be safely argued that a society without children has no future.

This is to say that children are important members of the human society in general

Childhood—and all its sub-categories—is a special period in human life. It is mainly dedicated to learning and forging the path for one’s future life.

It is an age in which society needs to invest adequately to build a solid foundation for children before they transition to adulthood.

The group also requires special protection because it faces such risks as violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect.

Experts say child abuse means ill treatment or neglect leading to physical, sexual or emotional injury or harm.

For instance, the 2009 Tanzania Violence Against Children Survey revealed the extent to which children were sexually assaulted, raped, physically attacked, and emotionally abused.

According to the survey, close to three quarters of 13 to 17-year-olds reported having been slapped, punched, beaten or threatened with a weapon by a relative, authority figure or intimate partner.

Globally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)—which is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities—was formulated for the purpose of protecting children.

Nationally, there is the Tanzania Law of the Child Act No.21 of 2009 in addition to other laws.

It is under the above setting that the government of Tanzania has pledged, and rightly so, to launch a national child upbringing strategy.

Parents or guardians have a duty to ensure that children under their care enjoy all the rights they deserve: being provided with all basic needs; right to education; right to play; right to health; right to privacy, and all the other basic human rights.

We are all duty-bound to safeguard society’s future through proper up-bringing of children.

WAR ON LEPROSY ON TRACK

Reports that leprosy cases in Tanzania have declined are most welcome, but this should not make us rest on our laurels because the war is not quite over yet. It has been revealed that many leprosy patients are leaving rehabilitation centres, and rejoining their communities as a result of ongoing awareness campaigns.

For example, over 400 leprosy patients at the Chazi Rehab Centre in Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, are now back at home with their loved ones, and have undergone training on economic empowerment

The number of registered leprosy patients on multidrug treatment in Tanzania has been steadily declining from nearly 3,500 cases in 2006 as part of efforts to eradicate the disease in the country by 2030.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were 127,558 new leprosy cases reported in 139 world countries in 2020. Global prevalence at the end of 2020 was 129,389 cases on treatment.

But although cases of the malady are declining, we should not be lax in implementing the requisite leprosy control strategies. We must instead bolster control, especially in areas with a high proportion of new cases.

Tanzania without leprosy is very much possible.