eng - World Organisation Against Torture

(a) Implement national policies andplans on adolescent health, such as theReproductive Health Programme anddevelop new policies and plans to coverall fields of adolescent health by takinginto account general comment No. 4(2003) on adolescent health and development;(b) Ensure access to reproductivehealth counselling and provide all adolescentswith accurate and objective informationand services in order toprevent teenage pregnancies and relatedabortions;(c) Strengthen formal and informal educationon sexuality, HIV/AIDS, sexuallytransmitted diseases and family planning;(d) Establish by law the minimum agefor purchasing and consuming alcohol;(e) Provide adolescents with informationon the harmful consequences of alcohol,drug and tobacco use;(f) Establish adequate mental healthservices tailored for adolescents;(g) Seek technical cooperation with,among others, WHO, the Joint UnitedNations Programme on HIV/AIDS andUNFPA.HIV/AIDS64. The Committee notes the relatively lowHIV prevalence rate in the country andwelcomes the various efforts being madeto address the prevention of transmissionand the reduction of HIV/AIDS, includingthrough the implementation ofthe AIDS Prevention and Control Act(Republic Act No. 8504), adopted in1998, and the establishment of theNational AIDS Prevention and ControlProgramme in 1998, the Committee isconcerned about the presence of riskfactors predisposing HIV-infection, suchas the high number of sex workers.While noting that the AIDS Preventionand Control Act guarantees access tocomplete HIV/AIDS information inschools, the Committee expresses itsconcern about the inadequate level ofHIV/AIDS awareness amongPhilippine adolescents.65. In the light of the Committee’s general78