Most Children to Spend Summer Vacation at Home

On June 2, when the first groups of children left for vacations, Leonid Kuchma signed an instruction On Organizing Children's Summer Vacations and Health Improvement. The President's press service declared that the order was supposed to activate the greatest possible number of child health-improvement institutions, to use their resources rationally, and to provide high-quality service and food for children.

"The state's number one concern is the organization of health improvement for the socially underprivileged: orphans, children deprived of parental care, children from poor and large families, children disposed to delinquency, children living under extremely complicated conditions, and the victims of Chornobyl accident," the State Committee on the Family and Youth press service stated.

Prosecutors have a different perspective. "Because of lack of appropriate supervision by central and local executive bodies over the organization of health improvement, children are restricted in their rights to health protection and rest. As a result of this, last year about 3 million children went to health camps, only 22.7%. The number of children treated in Vinnytsia oblast declined by 1500, and by 3000 and 12,000 in Cherkasy and Chernihiv oblasts respectively," Natalia Shestakova, department head for the observance of laws on children's rights in Prosecutor General's office told The Day. "The main principle of state policy in the sphere of child health protection is being violated: improving the medical and social protection of the most vulnerable categories of children. For example, about 4500 disabled children are registered in health-protection institutions of Cherkasy region. Almost 1500 of them need sanitarium treatment. But last year only 848 disabled children went to sanitariums. The money allocated is spent for other things, and places for the least protected children are given children from rich families."

Yet the main problem, which forces health-improvement institutions to save on high-quality food, is the constant reduction of outlays for child health improvement. This year oblast expenditures on child health programs were reduced by 40%, though the number of children who need summer treatment rose 20%.

Clearly, orders and instructions will not make children healthier. They will impact little on how children actually spend their summer vacations.