 
September 9, 2008
U.N. Chief Links Increased Literacy With Health
In his message for International Literacy Day, observed September 8, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for well-defined policies and increased investment to help people boost literacy skills, reports Xinhua News Agency.
About one out of five adults in the world can still neither read nor write and 75 million children remain excluded from the educational system, according to U.N. statistics. Ki –Moon affirmed that illiteracy hinders people from accomplishing essential tasks such as reading the instructions on a medicine bottle and obtaining information on serious diseases such as AIDS or malaria.
“And because two thirds of those who are illiterate are women and girls, who often bear the burden of caring for sick members of their families, it means that they will be less likely to know about prevention and support services, and how to use lifesaving medicines and other treatments,” Ki-moon said.
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