More facilities for pregnant girls in Wanni

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) will provide more probation officers and paediatricians at the Chettikulam Government Hospital to meet the needs of pregnant mothers who arrived in the cleared areas during the past few months.

It is reported that about twenty-five pregnant mothers who came from the No Fire Zone (NFZ) were admitted to the Chettikulam hospital. NCPA Chairman Jagath Wellawatte told the Sunday Observer that his Authority has received information regarding the increase in the number of teenage pregnancies among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and he visited hospitals in the North last week to look into the welfare of such persons.

He said that almost all teenage girls who came to the cleared areas were given in marriage by their parents to prevent them being forcibly recruited to the LTTE as child soldiers. Read more ...