CRC/C/15/Add.216 page 7 (c) Increasing the financial resources allocated to alternative care, while ensuring that institutional care is used only as a last resort; (d) Strengthening efforts to guarantee that all children placed in care have a periodic review of their treatment and all circumstances relative to their placement, in accordance with article 25 of the Convention. Adoption 33. The Committee welcomes the State party’s intention to reform its legislation on adoption, although it is concerned that planned amendments do not fully conform to the principles and provisions of the Convention and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption of 1993. 34. In considering the reform of its legislation on adoption, the Committee recommends that the State party pay particular attention to article 12 and the right of children to express their views and have those views be given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Require that children of a certain age consent to their adoption; (b) Ensure the right of adopted children to access, as far as possible, information about their biological parents; and (c) Ensure the right of children, as far as possible, to maintain one of their original first names. 6. Basic health and welfare 35. The Committee welcomes the adoption of the Child Health Strategy in 1998. However, the Committee is concerned that immunization coverage is not universal and at the relatively high rates of infant mortality and injuries among children. The Committee also notes with concern that child health indicators are generally lower among the Maori population. 36. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Allocate sufficient human and financial resources to implement the Child Health Strategy; (b) Take all necessary measures to ensure universal immunization coverage and develop preventive health care and guidance for parents and families that effectively address the relatively high rates of infant mortality and injuries; (c) Take all necessary measures to address disparities in health indicators between ethnic communities, in particular the Maori population.

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