USAID to help health dept fight malnutrition in Sindh

USAID Deputy Mission Director Denise A Herbol, Sindh Health Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho and Education Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili witnessed the signing of a partnership agreement between the USAID Sindh Community Mobilisation Programme (CMP) and the Sindh Health Department. 

The agreement signed was for a project that aims to supplement nutrition-related activities for five- to nine-year-old students of CMP schools in seven northern districts of Sindh and five towns in Karachi.

Speaking on the occasion, USAID Deputy Mission Director Denise Herbol stressed the importance of education in improving children’s health and nutrition. 

“We believe a comprehensive strategy is required to address issues related to malnutrition, particularly among affected children in Sindh.”

As part of the USAID-funded Sindh Basic Education Program (SBEP), which is in partnership with the Sindh School Education Department, the CMP aims at creating linkages between schools and health facilities to address issues such as malnutrition. 

Under the CMP, children are screened for deficiencies and parents are taught about the benefits of and ways to improve their children’s nutrition levels.

Malnutrition, which adversely affects children’s ability to learn, is major problem in Sindh, particularly in the districts affected by the floods of 2010. 

In their respective addresses, the provincial health and education secretaries also played up the importance of joint efforts to combat and defeat malnutrition in Sindh.