Lusaka -The Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, USAID and other partners in maternal and child health launched the Infant and Urban Clinic on 18th February 2009. The Minister of Health, Honourable Kapambwe Simbao, MP, officially launched the campaign which is specifically targeted at fighting malnutrition among children under the age of five.

The 2007 Zambia Demographic Health Survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office shows that 45% of the children surveyed are stunted; 15% are underweight and 5% were wasted. Sever Acute Malnutrition prevalence in Zambia is estimated to be 2.2%. The major causes include inadequate and inappropriate information on infant and young child feeding coupled with poor feeding practices such as early or late introduction of complementary foods and in some cases the use of foods that are nutritionally inadequate, breastfeeding is not
practiced by more than 60% of mothers in Zambia and high poverty levels and increase in food insecurity. HIV has also posed a great challenge to optimal infant feeding due to the possible risk of transmission of HIV to the child through breastfeeding.

In his launch statement, Hon. Simbao stated that the country has in the recent past experienced an unprecedented increase in the number of malnutrition cases in underfive children especially in Lusaka District. He emphasized the fact that since the global community was in a key phase to achieve the Millennium Development Goals MDGs, the campaign against malnutrition was timely in order to improve child health and survival if Zambia was to realize the goal of reducing by two thirds quarters the infant deaths by the year 2015. The Minister stated that the government was committed to ensuring that breastfeeding was protected, promoted and supported even for women living with HIV for the first six months of life. He emphasized that the infant and young child feeding operational strategy would be implemented country wide through the District Health Management Teams.

The WHO Representative, Dr. Olusegun Babaniyi stated that malnutrition is responsible for 60% of the 10.9 million children who die annually and that two thirds of the children die as result of inappropriate feeding practices mostly during the first year of life. He emphasized that nutrition is very crucial for the health, development and survival of children and called upon the government and all partners to ensure that the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding developed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF in 2003 was implemented at the country level. He emphasized the importance of implementing national policies on food security, the promotion of appropriate feeding practices, improvement of the role of health care delivery systems and training of health workers, promotion of therapeutic feeding of sick children, growth monitoring of children under the age of five and promotion of
good nutrition among pregnant women.

The UNICEF Zambia Deputy Representative Ms Elspeth Erickson bemoaned the high levels of malnutrition in the country. She emphasized the fact that breastfeeding for six months and thereafter continued with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age and beyond should be the gold standard for every child in Zambia. She also called upon the government and all partners to fight malnutrition through implementation of the existing national legislation on the international code of marketing breast milk substitutes and the implementation of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.
 

Although the Zambia Demographic Health Survey for 2007 shows a significant improvement in child health care over the period 2001 to 2007 with a reduction of Infant Mortality Rate from 95 per 1000 live births to 70 per 1000 live births and a reduction of the Under 5 Mortality Rate from 168 per 1000 live births to 119 per 1000 live births, malnutrition remains a significant threat to child health in the country. It is a major underlying cause to child morbidity and mortality as a result of malaria, respiratory infections, diarhoea, malnutrition and anaemia and HIV/AIDS.

For More information contact :
Nora Mweemba, Health Information and Promotion Officer.
GPN Number 37609, Mobile 0977873976,
WHO Country Office,
UN ANNEX BUILDING
Plot 4609, Corner of Andrew Mwenya and Beit Roads, Rhodes Park
P.O. Box 32346, Lusaka, Zambia.
E-mail: mweemban [at] zm.afro.who.int
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