Primary Health Care Corp (PHCC) has called for the rejection of violence in all its forms and manifestations for all, whether children, women, or others who are exposed to it in their lives, or even among their families, or at work and other places.
On the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence, PHCC called for systematic efforts to address the risk factors for exposure to violence, protect society and develop strategies to end it, to assist countries and local communities to prevent and eliminate all types of violence for its benefits in mental health, education and crime reduction.
Assistant Medical Director for Child and Adolescent Health at PHCC Dr Sadriya Mohamed al-Kohji underlined the positive role of PHCC in combating violence, and its keenness in the children clinics of the health centres to investigate, through the programmes of the well-child clinics and the adolescent health clinics, how to communicate with children and adolescents at all age stages and whether there are any signs of violent dealing with them in home or school.
She said that PHCC is working to raise awareness among the medical staff about the different images that may result from dealing violently with children and training them on this while regarding cases of children with special needs medical advice and awareness education is provided along with psychological support for them and their families.
Dr al-Kohji added that in cases of pathological behaviours such as involuntary urination, nail-biting, hair-pulling, etc, which could be a cause of violence, PHCC provides medical advice and explains the motivating and coercive ways to deal with it, and makes it clear to the family and parents that dealing with violence will not lead to treatment, but rather worsens the issue, in addition to transferring cases of violence or suspected violence in child clinics of the PHCC health centres to specialised centres in the country for treatment and follow-up.
She explained that violence against children is one of the most common types of violence, and it includes all its forms against people under the age of 18, whether it is committed by parents, other caregivers, or peers, noting that global estimates revealed that about 1bn children between the ages of two and 17, they experienced physical, sexual, psychological violence, or suffered neglect.
She noted that there are seven strategies to prevent violence against children, including, implementing laws prohibiting violent behaviour and restricting access to alcohol and firearms, changing rules and values, creating safe environments, supporting parents and caregivers, strengthening economic conditions, providing response services, developing educational and life skills to ensure that children attend school, and providing training to develop life and social skills.
Dr al-Kohji underlined the role of the family and society in protecting the child from violence, stressing that there are some aspects that the family can take into account to protect their children from exposure to violence and physical and psychological abuse, by providing an appropriate environment inside the home in which the child's ideas are respected, listened to them, solving their problems, providing them with the necessary care, using dialogue instead of punishment to reduce the violent behavior of the child, teaching the child his right to protection and how to protect himself from violence, encouraging him to speak for himself, supporting families to care for their children, and early childhood care and its development.
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