CRC/C/15/Add.113 page 8 malnutrition, especially in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of children, and increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Additionally, the Committee encourages the State party to consider seeking technical assistance for the integrated management of childhood illnesses and other measures for child health improvement from, inter alia, UNICEF and WHO. 27. The Committee expresses its concern regarding the limited availability of programmes and services and the lack of adequate data in the area of adolescent health, including accidents, suicide, violence and abortion. While the Committee notes that the State party has initiated a national anti-AIDS programme which aims, inter alia, to establish counselling and treatment centres for people living with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), it remains concerned at the high and increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS and STDs. The Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts to promote adolescent health policies, particularly with respect to accidents, suicide and violence, and to strengthen reproductive health education and counselling services. In this regard, the Committee encourages the introduction of training programmes on reproductive health. The Committee suggests that a comprehensive and multidisciplinary study be undertaken on the scope of adolescent health problems, including the negative impact of early pregnancy and the special situation of children infected with, affected by or vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and STDs. Additionally, it is recommended that the State party undertake further measures, including the allocation of adequate human and financial resources, to develop youth-friendly counselling, care and rehabilitation facilities for adolescents that would be accessible without parental consent, where this is in the best interests of the child. 28. The Committee notes the efforts of the State party to introduce measures to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and other harmful traditional practices affecting the health of girls, including early and forced marriages. The Committee welcomes the proposal to establish a national committee on practices harmful to the health of women and children and to implement a plan of action to reduce the practice by the year 2008. The Committee remains concerned, however, that harmful traditional practices such as excision and early and forced marriages continue to be widely practised within the State party. The Committee also notes with concern that approximately 75 per cent of women in the State party are in favour of maintaining the practice of excision. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to combat and eradicate the persistent practice of FGM and other traditional practices harmful to the health of girls. The Committee urges the State party to continue its efforts to conduct sensitization programmes for practitioners and the general public in order to change traditional attitudes and discourage harmful practices. In this regard, the Committee also encourages the establishment of alternative career training programmes for practitioners. The Committee encourages the State party to continue its collaboration with, inter alia, neighbouring States to identify good practices undertaken in the campaign to combat and eradicate the practice of FGM and other harmful traditional practices affecting the health of girls. 29. The Committee expresses its concern at the absence of legal protection and the insufficient number of adequate programmes, facilities and services for children with disabilities, particularly mental disabilities. In the light of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (General Assembly