Government says the country has in the recent past recorded an unprecedented number of malnutrition cases in under-five children.
Heath Minister, Kapembwa Simbao, says the increase has particularly been observed in Lusaka where children are not fed according to health recommendations and lack optimal nutrition especially during infancy.
Mr. Simbao said University Teaching Hospital (UTH) special ward for malnourished children has recorded an overwhelming number of children who have been admitted with serious malnutrition cases.
He attributed this to the worsening poverty levels, increased food insecurity as well as the suboptimal infants and young child feeding practices.
He said this has greatly contributed to the alarming rate of morbidity and mortality in children in Lusaka, the situation he said should be quickly addressed.
Mr. Simbao said this during the launch of the infant and young child feeding mass campaign programme against malnutrition in Lusaka today.
He also said the other cause of child mortality has been because children have not been breastfed within the first hour of birth and up to six months.
He said it has observed that more than 60 percent of mothers do not practice exclusive breastfeeding for their children up to six months due to various reasons.
Mr. Simbao however said government has embarked on a campaign to promote exclusive breastfeeding of children for the first six months as part of the child survival strategy in the country.
He said breastfeeding children in the first six months should be taken as a norm in the country as it is crucial in securing the childrens health and the overall child survival.
He said 10.9 million under five children die every year globally adding that promoting it could therefore avert 13 percent of all child deaths globally.
Speaking earlier, World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative Olusegun Babaniyi said the launch of the campaign was in line with the global strategy for infants and young children developed by WHO and UNICEF in 2003.
Dr. Babaniyi the campaign will help the country achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) number four that aims at reducing the child mortality by three quarters.
He also said exclusive breast feeding in the first six months should be encouraged by all as it is one of the key components of an essential child survival package.
UNICEF Deputy Country representative Elspeth Erickson said the launch of the campaign is a significant step in fighting malnutrition and saving the lives of the children.
Ms. Erickson also reiterated on the need to encourage exclusive breastfeeding for children as it essential for their growth, health and development.
ZANIS/GP/AM/ENDS
This is very bad :o:o:o
as usual!!!
And again my people continue to suffer!! Govt please do something!! We have enough funds to feed out people.
What do you expect when people dont have food to feed the children?
From cholera to Manutrition. :-?:-?:-?
No proper food pa **== kaili.
Rashid
Ati how??? muli che?
7. G BABY
yashupa insala pa Zed!!
Ba Moze keeps on with his disappearing acts? Anybody with data of his where about?
Ba Moze lives in Chimbokaila!! Internet is rare. He says he has just 1 GB left!! He intends to spare it for 2011!! He has taken a break. :d
Actually,the rural dwellers who voted for Nyama Soya are the worste hit,among them malnutrition is longer a under five issue but it is under 30 now.There will be a great revolution in this country soon.
Prepare for hard times ahead.
jam@co
looks like people are so busy today,dont have time to blog,i have missed baby c.
jam@co
Twafweniko guys or you will soon lose us on LT,twalafwa kunsala..:-ss:-ss:-ss:-ss:-ss We have no food to boast for.
Zambian President
Kaili these villagers thoughtthey will always be recieving mealie meal and sugar nomba its tough for them.they will keep singing the same song “tafa nanjala” coz not even their relatives can send them food and money they also dont have,tax yalilubana pa **== ,naikosa so kukosa fye..[-([-([-([-(
Mwe Lesa wandi sure twafweni fwe ma Zedians.Look at the picture not only babies are looking unhealthy,but the mothers as well.LT last time you told us that some govt officials do visit the site.My appeal to any govt official is this.Please take your time to compare your pot belly with the ones in the pic above.Then you will be able to know if you are being fair to the pipo in the pic who voted for you. :-j:-j:-j:-j
Mothers should rely on a good nutrition diet which cheap and necessary to prevent disease. :)]
Lets not entirely blame the goverment ! These people should also know how to plan.!They keep on having more and more babies when they cant even look after the current ones! It doesnt make sense to me.
Wow, Im in awe Enimien. I didnt know you specialised in mirttnaey and baby photos. How creative. The photos are fabulous. Absolutely fantastic. Well done.
JOB LOSES WITH NO BENEFITS EYALENGA FYONSE IFI
baby c
Hey sis :x:x
what do you expect sis when people dont even have jobs,all they do is stay in bed and make as many babies as possible.its eases their stress and hunger.ha ha ha
Matworld
Things are real bad.all we need are intercessors to [-o<[-o<[-o< for this country.
Baby C
I like the way you have phrased the first sentence.” lets not entirely blame the govt” that tells that the govt is also to be blamed.
Good point about family planning.Some pipo balampwisha amaka ukufyala kwati ni competition(pick alot tickets) :-j:-j:-j
G BABY
Ala bwafya! I love this country called Zambia so much,but stories like this one hey ine amaka yalapwa.Mothers and fathers please tusheniko ukufyala,recession is still on its highest peak.Iam so sorry mwema babies on a pic ala abafyashi benu bwafya too much se…. :-?:-?set:-j:-j
G baby
Hi mama! Ala am busy today! got loads of stuff to do!
Matworld
Mulishani tata?
Baby C
Iam great and you?
#18. Baby C, Hey I will tell you what will make sense, cause you have a good point / question. People who are hungry are making babies to deliver hunger resistant babies. ha ha ha the Ethiopian and Somalia style.
mwanawasa told you that dont have children if you cant educate/feed them. Sex is not only for procreation!!!
BABY G -you are very correct ,these people mostly spend most of their time in bed balesefya pang’wena,surely it is a stress reliever.In the past two days i have received more than 10 SOS call from my relatives in the village.Ili bad!
#26
Naughty!Thats funny!
:-j
Bye mwelupwa.Iam going kun’ganda,it was nice blogging with you and thank you so much for all the knowledge i have acquired from your comments.I love you all.
P.s.fathers and mothers I know sex is a gift from God,but please try some family planning methods.Moneni efyo abana balecula sure becoz of your enjoyment.(Insasa shenu ebulanda bwabo)
Enjoy the rest of your day guys.
blog with you after supper.
:”>
:”><:-p
The govt should put prevention programmes like in china.
[-x
matworld
go well and take care >:d<>:d<
What do you expect when people are starved to the point where they’ve become indifferent to the food the eat.They devour anything that stills the pangs of hunger.Nobody cares anymore about the nutritional content of the food they eat.
Jam@co, MATWORLD MULISHANI BANE.
SOME WOMEN ARE VERY LAZY THAT THEY EVEN FAIL TO FEED THEIR BABIES ALA TE FAULT YA BA GOVERNMENT. BANAMAYO UBULESI NO LUNSE TOO MUCH KU MA BABIES. THE GOVT SHOULD EDUCATE THE WOMEN ON FAMILY PALNNING. AWE MWE.
I have to force%%-down my throat everyday to live.Corrupt gluttons in high places mounch kgs of:@)3:-o~:>and sip liters of~o)everyday.
:d/:d/:d/
14. G BABY
Sorry !! I was in a meeting!!! Nomba nalainuka!! I will join you bloggers kunganda!
Bruder L is Jam@co!!
Do not forget that!! Though Jam@co will feature more :d
I will join you Kunganda:d
#37
You ve got a point there but the goverment has made tireless efforts to educate these women , on the benefits of family planning! but they dont want to take heed! I agree, they are also lazy to follow the simple instructions on which foods to give their children! But they are the first to open legs when it comes sex! Malabishi!
37. Evelyn King
I am fine thanks. I will join you guys later
:o:o: i used to boast ati ba kamuushi tabalwala lwala kanshi balwala insala, and da ada day i heard ati we are goin to have an overflow of food dis year kanshi u are budgeting at some having died by harvest time,:o:o:o iwe kuda go for disaster management kaili:-w:-w
I have now come to believe, that they are certain bloggers who make this site live and full of light. Today most of these bloggers havent been on the blog that much. Most of you will agree with me that LT is boring today.
To baby c, Ba Moze, Zoe, rashid, Gazzie, G baby ,3RqU, Nine Chale, Jam@co and Luapula fish, please continue the good work. I enjoy your contributions. =d>
Rupiah Banda, George “Pelican” kunda, Dora Shiliya… they are the cause for all this suffering.
The unemployment level is very high considering the population of Zambia and people have no money at all. These cases of manultrition have been predominant in most rural parts of Zambia and the highlight has only become significant because it has hit Lusaka. It is about time real investment came into the agriculture industry!! Mealie meal prizes sour, unemployment figures rise and the least goes on!!! Invest in farming and encourage sub-farming. Don’t mess around with the staple food like that. ‘Ubunga’ at least should be available, ndiyo not a problem!! Come on Bwezani sort it out, will you? :-w
Poor national bugdeting is cause of all this. Why spend millions of Kwacha on sending apamwamba’s to Joburg hosptals than spend the money to alleviate poverty?
Some of these malnutrition cases are not due to lazinesss.
It is poverty,PERIOD.
The govt should have a strategy on how to tackle this poverty issue. instead the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer..
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE AND TO BE DONE ASAP!!!!! :)>-**==**==**==**==**==8->8->
#48 Yeah something needs to be done SAP!! How can Government justify the purchasing of 4x4s for Chiefs at the expense of poverty stricken people? This is Crazy!!:-w
According to published rrteops at the time, drafters of those resolutions intentionally omitted the words “the” or “all” before the word “territories,” acknowledging that the exact land to be surrendered would be subject to future negotiation.
#49,
I remember ZCCM used to have good programmes for the malnourished kids and needy families.
The identification used to commence from UNDERFIVE clinics screenings.
Lectures and support used to be provided including counselling until the child is no longer malnourished. I wonder if the govt has such programmes or can implement such in order to save the Future Zambian Identity which are these very malnourished kids.
Ba govt, Mulekutikako limo limo. Mwatala mwakutumana first!:)>-**==**==
such things are making very sad reading????
whats this about people having to dip their thumbs in ink to buy meali meal in chililabombwe???? OMG!!! is it kaunda days again???!!
kwacha trading @ 5800? to the $!!, mealimeal 70 pin!!! eye!!!! and it seems people are concerned more about dora siliya!! and pettions!!! MMD don’t forget this time its only after next year will be voting again!! wake up!!! or else!! mr Banda you where in unip !! you know what happens to parties that dont deliver!!!!!!!!!!!
#50 True!! Malnutrition preventative measures existed during tough economical times. I remember vividly way back in primary school when milk used to be available. Although times have moved on, Government can still promote such measures. For instance promoting Soya beans plantations, among others to utilise in incidents like these. Soya is very effective can easily be grown in Zambia. :-w
OilyeR
I have being doing my undergraduate reseach in the clinic area at muhimbili national hospital of Tanzania and Ihave found that alot of children admitted for the malnutrition have mothers who have just primary level of education and they don’twhat is balanced diet for their children though they thoug they do attend clinic and are taught. I think education of mothers matters most especially in understanding and reasoning.
Njala ya koma bana, ka boma lukutipo uli?