To Achieve Health For All
Nutrition Is A Priority

By Mohan K.C.

THE state of children in the developing countries is far from satisfactory. It is not that no attention has been given to this. In fact, specialised efforts have been made as regards reducing infant mortality rate but yet there is a long way to go before real progress can be made. nepal as a developing country has its own constraints as regards providing each and every village with the health service facilities that is so necessary to see that the future citizens of the country survive their full life term.

There may be some diseases for which treatment cannot be found. In this country, as a special case, most of the diseases that afflict the infants and children are reported to the heath service centres or hospitals only at the eleventh hour when it is almost impossible for the doctors to do anything to save their lives. The medical professionals cannot be blamed in most of the cases though there may be stray cases of negligence. The parents or the society in general have to be made aware of the health care that is needed for the pregnant mother and the foetus besides safe delivery and post-natal care. This is glaringly lacking in our country as it is inhabited mostly by people stricken by poverty, illiteracy and a general lack of awareness.

In many a cases even preventable diseases prove fatal just because of lack of knowledge, information or sheer negligence. This might be some harsh words to say as no parent would like their infant’s premature death. The reason behind it is simple: the health posts are not at the doorstep nor are the health personnel at such posts or centres readily available.

Even where there is a provision of doctors or health assistants, many a times they are found missing. This is further compounded because of the insufficient supply of essential drugs. The diagnosis is made when the health worker is available but when necessary medicines are missing, there’s hardly a way out. This is the state of affairs in many parts of the country, mainly the remote rural areas. This might be the reason behind the high rate of infant and maternal mortality.

The establishment of health posts or centres alone do not suffice unless they are well equipped with necessary instruments and an adequate supply of life saving drugs. This is also not the whole story, the reluctance of the villagers to avail health care facilities is also a disappointment. The first recourse that the villagers in general resort to is the traditional and faith healers or the shamans. Herein, there is no denying that they too have a vital role in providing health services though not in the form of the scientific one. But, nowadays some changes have come around with the traditional healers being trained in basic modern medicine system. They have a more effective role at the grassroots level as people have faith in them. The two-in-one role has proved effective in many areas specially related to the treatment of diarrhea, a most "killer" disease by our local standards. But when shamans supplement their age -old knowledge with Jeevan Jal, the result has been in reducing infant and child mortality rate significantly.

According to World health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF, about 11 million children die of preventable disease every year around the world and mainly in the developing world. The figures arrived at is quite shocking yet it is true and authoritative. The main diseases cited as leading to such great mortality are pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, HIV/AIDS, measles and above all malnutrition. Malnutrition according to WHO and UNICEF, 60 per cent of the deaths result in death in childhood.

Nepal too faces the same problems which result in high infant and child death rate. Malnutrition must be given prominence as the major cause of such deaths before the child reaches prime age. Given the poor economic status of the Nepalese people, a balanced diet or adequate supply of daily requirement of calories is not met. This is the case as most of the people bank on subsistence farming and the food production is barely enough to feed a family of five or more for not more than half a year. therefore, high rate of malnutrition related deaths does not come as surprise.

It is not only that the health services must be strengthened but the nutritional needs of an infant, child and even the pregnant and nursing mothers must receive attention. This means that the agricultural productivity must be enhanced and then awareness raised as to the nutritional requirement of all. Only such a strategy can work. holding seminars, workshops or placing or airing advertisements in newspapers or on radio will not give the desired results. A radical planning and implementation is the need and not just statistics.

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