President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered the reinstatement of frontline nutritionists as part of his government’s efforts to combat malnutrition in the country.
Chakwera said Thursday in Lilongwe during the launch of the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) 3.0 strategy at the Bingu International Convention Center (BICC) that the country must invest in addressing health challenges that become costly to resolve once neglected.
He announced that Malawi now has a coordination office to manage its nutritional policy and a strategic nutrition plan to guide the expansion of the diet.
However, despite tremendous strides in the sector, Chakwera said the country’s stunted growth is over 30%, a high rate according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification, which states that nutrition indicators are falling significantly.
“According to the 2020 Integrated Household Survey, growth retardation has decreased from 47% to 33%, vitamin A deficiency has decreased from 22% to less than 3.6% and a proportion of children who have to be hospitalized due to severe and acute malnutrition , has significantly reduced from 3% to less than 1%. “
Chakwera attributes the gains made to the power of partnership the country has with its donors and development partners.
Since then, he has been committed to ensuring strengthened nutritional practices and systems across the country and an adequate allocation of nutritional resources in local councils by deploying nutrition officers across the country.
The SUN 3.0 strategy will re-energize the country to cover up the losses made in the food sector over the years, including those perpetuated by CoVID-19 – to provide specialized nutritional services to all Malawians, especially those in hard-to-reach rural areas .
Also present at the launch was Vice President Saulos Chilima, who said the fight against malnutrition also requires strengthening local councils in order to have a lasting and notable impact.
He urged the people in the country to be action-oriented if the country is to develop meaningfully.
The Deputy Secretary General and Coordinator of SUN 3.0 Strategy, Gerda Verburg, was also present at the introduction and emphasized the need for the country to speak the language in the fight against malnutrition.
Verburg said very strong commitments were made during the launch and has since asked the government and stakeholders to ensure that they come true.
In presentations on the topics of “Progress and nutritional status in Malawi” and “Nutritional keys for growth in Malawi”, Felix Pensulo Phiri and Alexander Kalimbira called for joint efforts and measures to cope with the current challenges in the industry.
Kalimbira said Malawi will not materialize in 2063 if optimal nutrition is not guaranteed in the country.
The theme of the introduction was “Unite to End All Forms of Malnutrition for Sustainable Human Welfare and Economic Development”.
President Chakwera also presented the revised Nutrition and Communication Strategy and Eat Well to Live Well Guide – essential tools to inform, educate and promote the adoption of appropriate eating practices and healthy lifestyles to improve the nutritional status and well-being of all Malawians.
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