Health Minister responds to President: vulnerable families are already listed
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, April 24
Georgian Health Minister David Sergeenko has responded to Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who called on the ministry on Monday to list the most vulnerable families nationwide, amid the reports that a 15-year-old boy committed suicide in western Georgia last week because of hunger.
“Such families have been listed for many years, and the process is carried out annually, as, based on the results, the government allocates funds for social allowances,” Sergeenko said.
Zurabishvili grilled the opposition-minded private TV channel Rustavi 2 for “incorrect reporting” that the boy committed suicide as he was hungry, after the family of the boy stated that the information aimed “to mislead public.”
However, Zurabishvili said that the issue of hunger leading to suicide, which was believed by many on social networks, was a tragedy, that must be addressed.
The last year survey of UNICEF reads that the children remain as the most vulnerable group in Georgia.
“Targeting of social assistance increased and together with Child Benefit has a high impact on reducing child poverty; targeted social assistance can better identify poor households with children; poverty levels increased for all groups, but people’s perception of being in poverty have improved; fewer people experience financial barriers in accessing health services; the gap for preschool attendance decreased; due to the absence of kindergartens, around 14,000 children still do not attend preschool,” read the survey.
UNICEF stated that to reduce child poverty a comprehensive social protection system should be found and child benefits should be expanded in amount and coverage.
