Alex Segbefia with the National Nutrition Policy
Sixty-six percent of children aged between six and 59 months in Ghana are anaemic, according to Dr Patrick Aboagye, Director of Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Dr Aboagye said although there were regional disparities, the anaemic rate among children was highest in the Northern Region, with 82 percent of children having some form of anaemic conditions.
This is followed by the Upper East and West Regions with 74 percent each. The Volta and Central Regions recorded 70 percent of anaemia among children, while the Eastern Region had 66 percent of its children having some form of anaemic conditions.
The Western Region recorded 65 percent, while the Brong Ahafo Region had 63 percent and then the Greater Accra Region recording 60 percent.
The region with the lowest anaemic rate is the Ashanti Region, with 54 percent of its children having some form of anaemic conditions.
Furthermore, he said anaemia rates in women aged between 15 and 49 years were still above 40 percent in seven out of 10 regions in the country
Dr Aboagye, making a presentation on ‘Recommitting To Invest In Nutrition In Ghana’, said the figures recorded in the 2014 Ghana Demographic Health Survey (GDHS) attributes the high number of anaemia among children to malnutrition.
He said malnutrition problems like stunting occurs in one out of every five children, and anaemia can have serious consequences on the health and survival of those affected with the attendant non-communicable diseases in later life.
National Nutrition Policy
He disclosed this at the launch of the National Nutrition Policy at a health advocacy conference themed: ‘Accelerating Nutrition Improvement For All In Ghana, A Call For Joint Action’.
Dr Aboagye called for urgent attention and innovative approach to help the country build on its gains of steady improvement in child growth such as reducing stunting in almost all regions.
Minister of Health Alex Segbefia, officially outdooring the policy, acknowledged the malnutrition problem the country faces, especially in some regions, rural areas and poor urban areas where the progress in the reduction of malnutrition, especially anaemia and stunting has been slow and uneven.
He said the situation, coupled with the emerging issue of over-nutrition, was an indication that the country was facing multiple burdens of malnutrition such as poor child growth, micronutrient deficiencies and adult overweight and obesity.
“Indeed, there are very wide disparities still existing in malnutrition rates across regions, location and across wealth quintiles. Certainly, some groups are being left behind,” he agreed.
Mr Segbefia said the nutrition policy will, among other things, operationalise strategies and initiatives for ensuring healthy diets throughout the life course of all Ghanaians.
“It will strengthen behaviour change communication to empower people and create an enabling environment for making informed choices about food products for healthy dietary practices and appropriate infant and young child feeding practices through improved health and nutrition information. It will also provide the framework towards supporting partnership development by engaging partners from across all relevant sectors to share and integrate best practices and new knowledge,” he said.
He disclosed that the sector was working hard to implement a number of both direct nutrition interventions and related actions that have demonstrated effectiveness in improving nutrition outcomes, reducing child mortality and protecting human capital.
“In particular, it is essential that more emphasis is put on improving the nutritional status of women and children from pregnancy to two years of age or the first 1000 days of life as this, we are informed, has long-term impact on their survival and development,” he added.
The sector minister indicated that since under-nutrition is a direct result of insufficient food intake or repeated infectious diseases or a combination of both, an integrated strategy will give the greatest dividend.
“Working together, we can provide adequate resources to nutrition whilst establishing systems to prioritise, target effectively and implement proven interventions, that can be rolled-out across the country in a comprehensive, and integrated fashion,” he said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri