By Bertha Badu Agyei
Accra, June 2, GNA-Stakeholders at a media capacity building on Nutrition, have called for strengthening measures including advocacy and funding gaps to address nutrition as a national agenda.
Studies show that two children in Ghana die every hour from preventable nutrition related causes and malnutrition costs Ghana GH¢4.6 billion annually in loss of productivity and healthcare cost.
Dr Kasim Abdulai, Director of Operations of the Coalition of Actors for Public Health Advocacy (CAPHA), who disclosed this, indicated that nutrition was a political call which required intentional investments.
Nutrition remains one of the critical areas in healthcare, unfortunately has not court the needed attention to scale it up and appealed to the media to advocate on it to change the narratives.
Dr Abdulai said the government needed to be pushed to be responsive to the nutritional needs of the populace, adding “nutrition is not charity, but a right.’
The CAPHA in collaboration with the Women, Media, and Change (WOMEC) organised the training for journalists in Accra as part an advocacy to enhance government leadership and involvement in maternal and child nutrition interventions.
WOMEC, a not-for-profit organization, through its Nourish Ghana project, is implementing an 18-momth project, which sought to strengthen advocacy efforts to influence nutrition-related policies to elevate the importance of nutrition in national discourse and development.
Dr Charity Binka, Executive Director of WOMEC, described nutrition as a silent crisis which affected children and communities and the very future of the nation.
“That crisis is malnutrition; Ghana still battles unacceptable levels of under nutrition with 18 percent of children under five suffering from stunting and wasting and these numbers represent mothers who face pregnancy without the nutrients essential for safe delivery and recovery”
She said malnutrition undermined efforts made in health, education, and economic growth, reducing school performance and productivity as well increases healthcare costs,
Dr Binka said it was high time to break that silence with deliberate efforts to promote exclusive breastfeeding and hygienic food practices and called on the media who had the platform and power to make nutrition a national agenda.
She emphasised the importance of nutrition in national development and the need to be in the centre of development conversations given the fact that nutrition was critical in ensuring a healthy citizenry.
Dr Binka also highlighted the media’s role in shaping public understanding of nutrition and as part of the project have a component to train media professionals to be able to advocate strongly for improved nutrition policies
Ms Olivia Tempo, Director of Nutrition Ghana Health Service (GHS) said plans were advanced to change some policies to scale up the nutrition responsive and called for the media’s support in achieving the targets.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei