A national Child Abuse Network (CAN) has been formed to steer issues of child abuse in the country. The Network is to provide a comprehensive child friendly and sustainable system which prevents and responds to all forms of physical and humiliating abuse of children. This was contained in a statement signed by ASP Freeman Tettey, Public Affairs Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, in Accra on Wednesday. The statement said DOVVSU with support from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), brought together stakeholders in Domestic Violence work to form CAN. It said the Network was formed as a result of the increasing spate of child abuse and lack of coordinated efforts from stakeholders to provide support for children of abuse. It said CAN drew membership from the legal, medical, psycho-social sectors, the judiciary, the media, child research and advocacy institutions/organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) involved in child abuse issues. The statement said CAN advocated for government agencies with child mandates to ensure that there was adequate budgetary support for child protection activities and asking for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cover the cost of the medical examination of survivors of child abuse. It said it also advocated for more streamlined and child friendly legal processes. The statement said the network was encouraging individuals and organizations to show keen interest in its work and activities by fully coordinating and reporting child abuse cases for response actions to be taken in the best interest of the child. Source: GNA