Workshop On Management Of Malnutrition Opens In Takoradi

The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development USAID), on Monday organised a three-day training workshop on Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) in Takoradi. The programme, which was under USAID's "Focus Region Health Programme", is being attended by about 30 nurses and nutrition officers from the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and the Shama District. Mr Winfred Wunu, Western Regional Nutrition Officer, said malnutrition accounted for 54 per cent of death of children worldwide. He said this was because most cases of malnutrition of children are not well managed. Mr Wunu said the United Nations Children Fund (NUICEF) and the World Health Organisation have therefore, come out with an effective way of managing acute malnutrition through the "Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)". He said RUTF provides all the energy and nutrients required for a child with acute malnutrition to recover within a shortest possible time. Mr Wunu said for the programme to succeed, there would be the need for community sensitisation, mobilisation and training for the people to identify children with acute malnutrition and refer them to health facilities to be treated with RUTF. He said UNICEF would provide RUTF for the treatment of malnutrition in the region to help the nation to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on reduction of extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition as well as the MDG 4 on the lessening of child mortality and death.