* No summary record was prepared for the rest of the meeting.This record is subject to correction.Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.GE.06-42359 (E) 310506 010606 UNITED NATIONS

CRC

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Distr.

GENERAL

CRC/C/SR.1145

1 June 2006

Original: ENGLISH

COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Forty-second session

SUMMARY RECORD (PARTIAL)* OF THE 1145th MEETING (Chamber B)

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva,

on Wednesday, 24 May 2006, at 3 p.m.

Chairperson: Ms. KHATTAB

CONTENTS

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF STATES PARTIES (continued)

Initial report of Turkmenistan (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF STATES PARTIES (agenda item 4) (continued)

Initial report of Turkmenistan (continued) (CRC/C/TKM/1, CRC/C/TKM/Q/1)

At the invitation of the Chairperson, Mr. Atakhanov and Mr. Orazberdyev (Turkmenistan) resumed places at the Committee table.

Mr. ORAZBERDYEV (Turkmenistan) said that, although no specific statistics were available, infant and maternal mortality rates had fallen considerably since 1990 as a result of the close cooperation between the Government, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in establishing family planning projects and the Government’s drive to improve the health of teenage girls. The Government had also worked closely with those organizations to promote the health of women of childbearing age and special efforts had been made to prevent anaemia in pregnant women. Pursuant to a presidential order issued in 1996, work had been carried out to increase the iron intake of women of childbearing age and children up to the age of 2 years. In 2005, a pilot project had been carried out in collaboration with UNICEF to provide supplementary iron and folic acid to 500 children under the age of 5 and 500 women aged between 15 and 49. The project had resulted in a 15 per cent reduction in cases of anaemia among the sample groups, and no cases of serious illness had been detected. A further presidential order that had recently been issued would make the provision of supplementary iron and folic acid to women of childbearing age compulsory across Turkmenistan by 2007.

Since Turkmenistan’s independence, the health service had been reformed and funds had been redistributed to ensure that attention was paid to the prevention of illness as well as the provision of treatment. Over 2,000 inefficient medical institutions had been reorganized and, in response to recommendations from the World Health Organization, a network of health centres had been established in both urban and rural areas across the country. Efforts were being made to develop a system of family health care, under which an individual’s health care would be overseen by one general practitioner for the duration of his or her lifetime. The number of hospital beds had been reduced considerably and their use had been rationalized. In recent years, the emphasis had been on establishing modern health‑care institutions and clinics. In 2006, a so‑called “Mother’s love” centre had been established for the treatment of mothers and children.

A system of voluntary medical insurance had been introduced. Although free health care for all, including children, was guaranteed by the State, the purchase of such insurance entitled people to discounted prices for additional medical services and for medicines sold in chemists’ shops. A total of one and a half million children were currently covered by voluntary medical insurance.

Efforts were being made, in cooperation with UNICEF, to increase the number of children who received vaccinations. An amount equivalent to over 5 million United States dollars had been included in the State budget for 2006-2009 for the purchase of vaccines against poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, whooping cough, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella, and to ensure that the vaccines were transported in a timely manner and at the correct temperature. Efforts were also being made to prevent the proliferation of sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, drug addiction and alcoholism among teenagers.

Mr. ZERMATTEN asked whether there was a centralized register for domestic and international adoptions in Turkmenistan.

Mr. ORAZBERDYEV (Turkmenistan) said that regional and town authorities registered all adoptions and cooperated closely with the Ministry of the Interior to ensure that the best interests of the child were fully protected. A series of town and regional commissions, which had close links with the government ministries dealing with children’s issues, had been established to protect children’s interests.

Under domestic legislation, all children had equal rights, irrespective of their nationality, ethnic origin or language. Education was provided in Turkmen and Russian, and also in English in some schools.

Ms. VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC (Country Rapporteur), after thanking the delegation of Turkmenistan for its replies to the Committee’s questions, said that she hoped further information would be provided in writing before the Committee drafted its concluding observations.

Mr. ATAKHANOV (Turkmenistan) said that the Government would endeavour to submit written answers to the Committee’s questions in due course and would make every effort to implement the Committee’s recommendations in a timely and effective manner.

The discussion covered in the summary record ended at 3.35 p.m.