Nutritionists Plea For Sector Reforms in Eastern Equatoria The Eastern Equatoria State, EES, nutritionists complained during a coordination meeting organised by the health ministry with UNICEF, that the nutrition sector is still facing numerous challenges citing lack of essential facilities such as nutrition centres and enough qualified nutritionists.18 April 2011 Asst. Commissioners for Health and Nutritionists attending a coordination meeting[©Gurtong] By Peter Lokale Nakimangole TORIT, 17th April, 2011 [Gurtong] – The Eastern Equatoria State, EES, nutritionists complained during a coordination meeting organised by the health ministry with UNICEF, that the nutrition sector is still facing numerous challenges citing lack of essential facilities such as nutrition centres and enough qualified nutritionists.
During the nutrition coordination meeting held in Torit early last week, nutritionists deliberated that lack of essential facilities such as nutrition centres in most of the Counties as well as lack of enough qualified nutrition officers, mobility, inadequate funds to service the sector are some of the factors hindering the implementation of proposed projects. The Assistant Commissioner for Budi County, Angelo Mauro Iko confirmed to the participants that his County had neither a nutrition centre nor a nutrition officer except a hospital where they carry out nutrition activities to help malnourished children in Chukudum town, the County headquarters. Mauro said that although the hospital is equipped with nutrition facilities, there is still no megaphone for announcements coupled with the absence of trained nutrition personnel to effectively conduct activities in a professional manner. He also complained that his County has no NGOs dealing with nutrition programs. He affirmed the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA, which operated in the County before and after the signing of the CPA but withdrew its services last year until two months ago when it resumed. A nutrition officer in the State Health Ministry’s Headquarters, Ms. Antazia Sabasio confirmed to Gurtong that, the Department lacked adequate trained nutrition practitioners and she appealed for more support from the Government’s well wishers to quickly intervene in order to minimise the ongoing alarming malnutrition cases of young children in the State. The Deputy Director for Nutrition in Torit County, Diana Bortel said that lack of Nutrition Officers in her County to conduct nutrition services remain a bigger challenge. Bortel said, “Lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the diet affects the immunity of more than one third of preschool-age children globally.” However, the Director of Nutrition in the Eastern Equatoria State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Rachael Awadia who presided over the meeting concurred with the complaints citing mobility as a major challenge. “Nutrition officers lack coordination between the Headquarters and Counties hence affecting timely reports as major obstacle,” she affirmed. Some Counties lacked computers and internet connectivity to send their reports quarterly or monthly, therefore making it hard for her to detect the challenges. Mrs. Awadia also reminded the 8 Assistant commissioners for Health drawn from the 8 Counties that they were responsible for preparing yearly budgets for incorporation with the respective Counties annual budgets, so that any missing item could be taken care of accordingly. The budget helps to reflect what can be done to fulfil nutrition requirements like constructing nutrition centres, recruiting professional nutritionists, acquiring nutrition equipments among other infrastructural needs. The director affirmed that facilities like Outpatient Department, OPD, could easily open but doubted their management and effective supervision in the Counties. “We need professionals to oversee the running of a facility with less supervision from us,” Awadia added. She also noted that mothers had no access to basic information on nutrition; she then recommended organised mobile support groups to move from village to village, informing mothers about the importance of nutrition. According to a World Health Organization, WHO, report, malnutrition in every form, presents significant threats to human health. Today the world faces a double burden of malnutrition that includes both under-nutrition and overweight, especially in developing countries. Hunger and inadequate nutrition contribute to early deaths for mothers, infants and young children, leading to physical impairment and low brain development in the early age. At the same time, growing rates of overweight and obesity worldwide are linked to a rise in chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes - conditions that are life-threatening and very difficult to treat in places with limited resources and already overburdened health systems. The WHO reports that about 115 million children worldwide are underweight and suffer from malnutrition which contributes to about one third of all child deaths apart from stunting growth (an indicator of chronic undernutrition), that also hinders the development of 171 million children under age 5 according to 2010 figures. Posted in: Home -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
