By Nellie Kapatuka
Mana, September 2, Lilongwe: President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered that nutrition frontline workers be reinstated in the country.
Speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday during the launch of the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) 3.0 strategy at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC), Chakwera the reinstatement is part of the measures his administration has put in place in the fight against malnutrition in the country.
He said the country has been faced with issues and problems more expensive than investing to prevent them from happening.
He said, the country now has a coordinating office, nutrition policy and a nutrition strategic plan to guide the scaling up of nutrition.
However, despite tremendous progress that has been made in the sector, Chakwera said the country’s stunting levels remains at over 30%, a high rate according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification.
The President was also quick to note that nutrition indicators are significantly going down.
“According to the 2020 integrated household survey, stunting has gown down from 47 to 33 percent, Vitamin A deficiency has been reduced from 22 to a lower 3.6 percent and a proportion of children who require hospitalization due to severe and acute malnutrition has significantly reduced from 3 percent to less than 1 percent,” said Chakwera, attributing the wins registered to the power of partnership the country has with its donors and developmental partners.
President Chakwera has since made a commitment to ensure strengthened nutritional operations and systems nationwide, adequate allocation of resources to nutrition at local councils and placing nutrition officers across the country to render specialized nutritional services to all Malawians including those in hard to reach rural areas.
The SUN 3.0 strategy according to Chakwera, will reenergize the country to cover up on the losses made over the years in the nutrition sector, including those perpetuated by Covid-19.
In his remarks, Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima, said the fight against malnutrition in the country also requires strengthening of local councils to have sustainable and remarkable impacts.
He challenged people in the country to be action oriented if the country is to register meaningful development.
Also present during the launch was Gerda Verburg, Assistant Secretary General and Coordinator for SUN 3.0 strategy for the United Nations, who stressed on the need for the country to walk the talk in the fight against malnutrition.
According to Verburg, very strong commitments have been made during the launch and has since asked government and stakeholders to see to it that they materialize.
Making presentations on topics “Progress and state of nutrition in Malawi” and also “Nutrition Key for Malawi growth”, Dr. Felix Pensulo Phiri and Dr. Alexander Kalimbira respectively, asked for collective efforts and actions to address current challenges in the sector.
According to Kalimbira, Malawi 2063 will not materialize if optimal nutrition is not being provided in the country.
During the launch which was held under the theme “Unite to end all forms of malnutrition for sustainable human wellbeing and economic development” Chakwera, also launched the revised Nutrition Education and Communications Strategy and the Eat well to live well guide which are fundamental tools for informing, educating and promoting adoption of appropriate dietary practices and healthy lifestyles to improve the nutritional status and wellbeing of all Malawians.
