G) Health and welfare
i. On Children with Disabilities
28. The Committee appreciates measures taken by the State Party to address
concerns of children with disabilities. However, it notes with concern that access
to the full range of services for the majority of children with disabilities remains
compromised. Hence the Committee recommends to the Government to:
A) Put in place mechanisms to ensure accountability for actions (including
budget allocations and expenditure) undertaken to protect the rights of
children with disabilities.
B) Ensure Inter-departmental and inter-sectoral coordination and
collaboration to ensure that existing barriers preventing children with
disabilities from accessing needed services are removed;
C) bolster Data collection efforts on the prevalence of disability amongst
children in order to account for all children with disabilities and to give a
more accurate profile of the support that they require;
D) Ensure that children below the age of five are included in the disability
prevalence data and other disability related data collections.
II. On health and health services
29. The Committee notes with appreciation measures taken by the State Party to
realise children’s right to health, inter alia, implementation of the Child Healthcare
Problem Identification Programme’s (Child PIP) audit of hospital deaths which
helps to identify problems faced by children at hospital, clinic and community
levels including transfers between facilities; as this in turn reduces child mortality
and morbidity. The Committee also notes with appreciation that case fatality rates
for diarrhea and pneumonia are decreasing. However the Committee notes with
concern that more than half of child deaths occur outside hospitals in South Africa.
Therefore, the Committee recommends to the Government of South Africa to:
A) Ensure country wide implementation of the Child Healthcare Problem
Identification Programme by expanding the program to all hospitals
and clinics of all provinces;
B) Strengthen efforts to narrow the difference in quality of health service
received in the rural and urban hospitals and clinics by giving special
attention to rural areas;
C) Extend the role of community health workers to include not only
prevention, but also treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia by
amending legislation/regulations around the prescribing, dispensing
and storage of drugs.
11