Angola’s health authorities recorded about 45,000 cases of acute childhood malnutrition in the first half of this year, a disease that accounts for about 50% of infant mortality in the country.
The data cited by the Rádio Nacional de Angola was made public by Natalia da Conceição, coordinator of the National Malnutrition Programme, during the training and development of national nutrition inspectors in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
In turn, the doctor of the Angolan Pediatric Society, Cesar Freitas, said that in Luanda, the capital of Angola, about 26,000 children died of malnutrition last year.
“We have over 26,000 malnourished children here in Luanda during 2022, of whom over 4,000 were severely ill and about 10% died. As for the mortality of these children, depending on the units we have, the mortality rate ranges from 17% to 40%, which is considered unacceptable,” he stressed.
According to Joana Abrao, UNICEF spokesperson for nutrition in Angola, the workshop was aimed at training Angolan nutrition monitors who will evaluate whether the system is working “appropriate treatment of malnourished children, treatment, data recording and reporting at a higher level.”
“In Angola, 38% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and among children under 5 years of age, 5% suffer from acute malnutrition,” said Joana Abraao, emphasizing that the purpose of the training is to provide tools, education and quality control.
Joana Abraao said that the next survey of multiple health indicators is being conducted by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) and will provide more up-to-date data on the nutrition situation.
“UNICEF has supported the government of Angola with social work by providing training courses like the one we are doing here today so that the government has products to treat malnutrition. We have been doing this for many years, and now we will check the current situation in the next survey,” he stressed.
For treatment, Joana Abrao continued, the Angolan government is acquiring products, and development partners are strengthening the response capacity of the Angolan authorities.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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