Punish Parents Who Deny Sick Children Blood Transfusion - Chief Justice

The Acting Chief Justice, Mr. E.K. Wiredu has advocated that there should be legislation to check the imposition of religious doctrines that infringe upon the rights of the child, such us the refusal of certain sects to allow the transfusion of blood to sick children.

"Any parent or guardian who breaches this law must be punished in accordance with the law," he said.

He was inaugurating a Committee on Child Protection in Accra on Friday. The multi-sectoral committee includes representatives of institutions and organisations that deal with issues on children's rights and welfare. It is tasked among other things to collaborate with appropriate agencies to stop the violation of the rights of children and to provide support services to children in distress and act as a watchdog to enforce laws on child protection.

The Chief Justice said that it is unfortunate that "some religious doctrines and practices should be allowed to extend to affect the health of children. I came across some documents seeking to grant power of attorney by a religious sect to some people to see to it that blood transfusion should not be given to sick children who might medically be in need of them. This practice obviously seeks to threaten the life of children who might require them."

The Chief Justice was concerned about harsh punishments often administered to children in a bid to correct them for wrong doing and advised that all forms of corporal punishment should be stopped because it violates the rights of children.

Children must be considered to be fragile and vulnerable, he said adding that, "any infliction of pain on them will likely lead to the retardation of their mental development".

Justice Wiredu therefore advised the committee to map out strategies and plans to educate parents on the training of their children for them to become productive and useful citizens in the future.

He said it was regrettable that the African child lives in an environment that denies him or her, the requisite facilities that should make the child become enlightened to assume a leadership role in society.

He observed that the girl child for instance lives under the threat of sexual harassment, physical and emotional abuse, and even denial of formal education.

Justice Wiredu said that although child abuse is a worldwide phenomenon, however it seemed more prevalent in Africa. He noted that child trafficking for slavery and forced labour is on the increase and warned that unless the trend was stopped it would lead to the destruction of society.

The Chief Justice therefore called for a conserted effort by all interest groups and child advocate organisations to evolve programmes to check issues relating to child abuse and neglect.

Dr. Mrs. Ama Kyerewaa Edwin, President the Society of Ghana Women Medical and Dental Practitioners (GWMDP) called for the speedy disposal of cases involving child abuse to remove the stress on parents and bring to a quick end the trauma that victims of child abuse go through.

Dr. Mrs. Ama Kyerewaa, a psychologist and a member of the newly inaugurated Committee on Child Protection, noted that since the courts drag cases of child abuse. As a result, culprits were not often punished because parents of victims of child abuse give up with time because they do not have resources to continue with the case.