By: Adeel Alvi
SHIKARPUR: Ms. Zeenat Bano, of 35, mother of two kids, got shocked when she informed that her second baby Zeenab, of one-and-a-half-year-old, has also become a victim of Moderate Acute Malnutrition [MAM] diagnosed by Ms. Gulshad Soomro, a local Community Health Worker, at village Muhammad Ibrahim Soomro, the adjacent area of Rustam Town, of District Shikarpur, However, at the time of diagnosing MAM, the level of Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) was 12.4, while Mother was advised to use Micronutrient Powder (MNP), MNP is nutritional supplements developed to address micronutrient deficiencies in children of age between 6-23 months and she was advised to continue providing MNP for at least six months.
After providing MNP up to six months the MUAC level increased to 13.6 and the baby girl became healthy.
Ms. Zeenat Bano told this scriber that her daughter’s weight and height were not increasing and she became worried a lot because her elder kid also has become a victim of the same issue, but she could not know the proper treatment for her elder kid, but this time Ms. Gulshad Soomro conducted MUAC test and started the treatment of her baby girl and advised for MNP packet and ensured me and my other family members for her early recovery.
“I started using MNP and after the passage of six months, my baby Zeenab has become healthy and his MUAC level increased while she has also been growing day by day.”
Ms. Dilshad Soomro, a local Community Health Worker [CHW], told this scribe that I am looking at a cluster consists of five villages including Muhammad Ibrahim Soomro, Dilawar Mahar, Younis Machi, Rakhial Chachar, and Mubarak Bhutto villages and screening tests of Severe Acute Malnutrition [SAM] and diagnosed 13 children who were become the victim of SAM from them 10 children have become healthy and three children are still under treatment.
She further said that she has been visiting her cluster villages on daily basis and conducting screening tests of MUAC so that she could confirm the SAM cases and start treatment of the victim children for the welfare of the forthcoming generation.
Ms. Gulshad further said that before starting of Programme for Improved Nutrition in Sindh [PINS] the village women were not aware of Stunting, Wasting, and Under-weight children and how to feed their children properly, but now women have become aware and active.
Program for Improved Nutrition in Sindh funded by Europe Union [EU], Nutrition Specific Component focuses on the treatment of malnutrition in health facilities supported by an outreach screening, referral, and behavior change communication program to improve child care, sanitation, and feeding practices started in eight districts of Sindh in June 2019 mainly focusing to improve the nutritional status of under-five children and of Pregnant and Lactating Women by addressing malnutrition through provision of effective nutritional services at the community and facility level that meet nationally and internationally recommended minimum standards of care for the population.
The program activities are being run in eight districts of Sindh including Shikarpur, Thatta, Sujawal, Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Larkana, and Oambar Shahdad Kot, intended to provide 100 percent availability of treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition [SAM] children, with and without complications.
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