E/C.12/1/Add.94 page 7 54. The Committee urges the State party to further strengthen measures to prevent child neglect and to ensure adequate assistance and social rehabilitation for neglected or abandoned children. The State party should take effective measures to deal with the root causes of neglect and abandonment, particularly by increasing assistance rendered to families with children, including by increasing the levels of family benefits. 55. The Committee urges the State party to strengthen its efforts to address the problem of homelessness, including by ensuring that adequate resources are set aside for the provision of social housing, with priority given to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. The Committee also encourages the State party to undertake a study into the problem of homelessness so that it may acquire a more accurate picture of the scope of the problem and of its root causes. 56. The Committee calls upon the State party to guarantee that timely and adequate compensation is duly provided to all persons whose property has been destroyed during the military operations in Chechnya. 57. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that mechanisms are in place to ensure the enjoyment of basic rights of conscripts, including their access to adequate food and health care. 58. The Committee reminds the State party of its obligation under the Covenant to ensure the provision of adequate temporary housing for those people who fear that Chechnya is too insecure for them to return. 59. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that the ongoing reform of the health sector will improve the quality of and equitable access to health services in all regions of the country. The State party should also take effective measures to improve the health status of indigenous peoples in the regions of the Far North. 60. The Committee recommends that the State party address the matter of patients’ rights and report back to the Committee on this issue in its next periodic report. 61. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to combat tuberculosis, under the special federal programme “Urgent measures to tackle tuberculosis in Russia for the period 1998-2004”, including by ensuring the availability of medicines and adequate sanitary conditions in prisons, and by taking special measures to combat the epidemic in the worst affected regions. 62. The Committee, in line with its general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, calls upon the State party to take urgent measures to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The State party should ensure that all persons know about the disease and how to protect themselves, including through sex education in schools, and that methods of protection are available at affordable prices. Moreover, awareness-raising campaigns should aim at preventing discrimination against HIV-positive people.