Nutrition plan to be expanded soon: CHD

KATHMANDU, April 29: The Child Health Division (CHD) of the Department of Health Services (DoHS) said that Multi- Sector Nutrition Plan (MSNP), which aims to address chronic malnutrition among children below two years of age, will be expanded to other five districts within this fiscal year.



The government has formally launched the program in Achham district.[break]



The plan, which was prepared by National Planning Commission (NPC), aims to reduce prevalent rate of malnutrition by a third in the next five years.



Officials at the CHD said that the government agencies have been preparing to start the program in Bajura, Jumla, Kapilbastu, Nawalparasi and Parsa districts, which were selected for piloting of the program.



The CHD says that the program would be expanded throughout the country if the piloting shows positive results. "The plan itself is not new. It´s just that we have changed the approach to deal with the problem," said Dr Taranath Pokhrel, director at CHD. He said that the government agencies hope to expand the program throughout the country by 2017.



Five ministries and their development partners have been collaborating to implement the plan. Under the plan, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) will focus on improving the nutrition of mothers, infants and young children and the Ministry of Education will work to improve education and life skills.



Likewise, the Ministry of Urban Development aims to increase the access to sanitation and safe water to protect vulnerable groups from diarrhea and Ministry of Agriculture plans to increase the availability of nutritious food for mothers and young children who are among the poorest.



"We will adopt different methods to reduce malnutrition," said Rajkumar Pokhrel, chief of Nutrition Section at CHD. Pokhrel also said that micro-level planning has been worked out by the VDCs, wards and communities to address the problem.



Chronic malnutrition is seen as a major stumbling block in the country´s development. The National Demographic Health Survey ((NDHS) has shown that 41 percent children under two years of age are suffering from chronic malnutrition.



Malnutrition occurs when the body does not get enough vitamins, minerals and other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ functions. Experts say both undernourished and over-nourished people can suffer from malnutrition. Poor access to adequate food, poor feeding practices, limited health services and lack of sanitation are the underlying causes of malnutrition. Malnutrition increases mortality among infants.

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