E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 50 particular financial assistance, from United Nations organizations and donor countries should be sought and strengthened in this regard. (d) Health-related measures 201. The religious beliefs of health professionals must not be a barrier to the treatment of illnesses specific to women and measures should be introduced to ensure that women are referred to alternative health providers.274 In some States, female doctors themselves reportedly carry out practices injurious to women’s health, in particular excision.275 Training programmes for physicians and traditional birth attendants can help to limit harmful practices, including genital mutilation, male-child preference and food taboos. 202. As is done by some States, measures should be taken with regard to regulating prenatal diagnostic techniques with the aim of preventing abuses and, in particular, of eradicating selective abortion by prohibiting revelation of the sex of the foetus.276 The medical profession should be alerted to the dangers of traditional practices that are detrimental to the status of women and society in general and should be encouraged to observe ethical standards of conduct and to refuse to perform sex-related abortions, which adversely affect the demographic balance within society. (e) Generating public awareness 203. Governments, NGOs, the media and intellectuals should each contribute to promoting changes in mentality and accelerating the process of women’s emancipation through specific public awareness and information activities. In this connection, it should be noted that regional NGOs have played a crucial role in drawing attention to harmful traditional practices, one example being the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, whose work should be encouraged.277 It should be pointed out in this respect that some cultural practices which are injurious to women’s health or status are a sensitive issue in many developing countries and that it will require time and patience to change cultural attitudes that are seen as religious traditions. Caution is necessary to successfully putting the message across in order not to challenge beliefs which, although harmful or dangerous, have been rooted in the consciousness of individuals and peoples since the dawn of time. 204. States should encourage pressure groups, think-tanks and civil society actors advocating the eradication of traditional practices harmful to women’s status by developing public awareness—through the media, cinema, theatre, television serials, etc.—of the dangers of traditional practices affecting women and girls. (f) Religious instruction and dialogue with religious leaders 205. Dialogue between the authorities and religious leaders and other members of society, including medical practitioners, political leaders, modern and traditional communicators, education authorities and the media, is an important prevention measure. Such dialogue should be formally established through the development of specialized regional and subregional networks of religious and traditional leaders. In the case of certain practices that are harmful to women’s health in some countries, such as genital mutilation, it has been possible through such dialogue to define strategies based on the recognition that these practices are a cultural and not a