UNICEF Friday called on the warring factions of the conflict to allow health drives in Nepal.

Asking for help to facilitate the transport of vaccines, Vitamin A and de-worming drugs, which have been held up in the recent transport shutdown in the country, UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, said from London,
“It is vital that these supplies reach remote areas as soon as possible.”

“The warring sides need to put the health of Nepal’s children first, and allow the national distribution of Vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets to 3.3 million children to take place as scheduled in April,” she said.

Without the twice-yearly Vitamin A distribution in Nepal, it is estimated that some 12,000 children annually would succumb to diseases they would otherwise survive, the press communiqué issued by UNICEF said. About 50 percent Nepalese children are stunted and malnourished. Intestinal worm infections, a chronic problem, further reduce the amount of iron they absorb, leaving them weak and anaemic, the release added.

Saying measles has been killing some 5,000 children annually, Bellamy said, “It’s essential the national measles vaccination programme can continue in April, when the weather warms, to reach children in the final seven mountainous districts.”

Each day, some 194 children under five die from illnesses such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections, despite national vaccination and vitamin distribution campaigns. Almost 70,000 die each year from preventable causes, according to the release.

Bellamy also noted that the conflict in Nepal is robbing children of their right to education. “Schools have been closed, attacked, bombed, mined, turned into barracks and their playgrounds dug with trenches. Teachers and students have been killed, detained and threatened. Thousands of students have been marched away for political indoctrination sessions . . . some don’t return. It is a tragedy for a country and its children when those at war allow conflict to enter into the classroom. Schools must be left as safe havens for learning and playing,” the press statement quoted the UNICEF executive director as saying.

Saying they (warring factions) just have to focus on their shared responsibility for the safety and well-being of children, she said, “It is possible for leaders from all sides to find common ground and an undeniable imperative to build a lasting peace.”

“This was my message when I visited Nepal in 2003 – it remains my message now. The needs of the children of Nepal must come first, she added.