Ghana: Govt Has to Scale Up Interventions to Improve Nutrition
The Deputy Director for the Nutrition
Department of Ghana Health Service, Ms Wilhelmina Okwabi, says
malnutrition is still a challenge in Ghana and therefore it is important
to scale up interventions to improve the nutritional status of the
citizenry.
She said there was evidence of the increasing rate of malnutrition and obesity particularly among children as well as other nutritional-related illnesses such as diabetes among the younger population.
She nonetheless admitted that there were some successful cases of interventions but more remained to be done.
She believed that the rate of malnutrition among the populace could be reduced significantly if there were stakeholder support and political commitment towards the implementation of nutritional policies and programmes.
Ms Okwabi was addressing a West African Health Organisation (WAHO) Peer Reviewing Meeting in Accra on Strengthening National Nutrition in West Africa.
She noted that challenges such as effective implementation and sustained impact backed by political commitment and fair share of the national budget remained elusive.
She observed that although nutrition was a critical item in the development status of many countries, it had remained trapped in a "low priority cycle" in most sub- Saharan African countries including Ghana.
She identified malnutrition's complex determinants and its low visibility, lack of political commitment, weak institutional and operational capacities at all levels of government as some of the biggest constraints on addressing the challenge of malnutrition.
Ms Okwabi explained that the South-South Peer Review initiative, sponsored by the World Bank and led by the WAHO of Economic Community of West African States, was aimed at enhancing policies and programmes through South-South exchange and learning.
The programme is being piloted by Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal and The Gambia.
Participating countries were expected to exchange visits, with delegations making field trips to operational sites with focus on conducting a "SWOT" (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of host countries.
The areas of focus include the policy context of a country, its programme performance, management capacity, flow of funds and financial management, institutional arrangements and financial capacity.
Mr Abdoulaye Ka, Head of a four-man Senegalese team on a visit to Ghana, commended Ghana's draft nutrition policy, saying it was multi-sectoral and addressed almost all areas of nutrition, except for some few loop-holes.
He outlined the various shortfalls identified in the policy such as lack of a clearly stated policy vision and objectives, as well as the absence of clearly identified key indicators so as to target the issue from the correct approach.
Mr Ka expressed the need for updates of key indicators to give a clear picture of the nutritional situation of the country, stressing that the policy must clearly identify major stakeholders and their responsibilities towards achieving quality nutrition.
He recommended strong advocacy in the timely release of government funding to implement nutritional programmes, adding: "You (Ghana) need to sensitise the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on the importance of nutrition in children as a major development indicator."
The Senegalese delegation undertook a field trip which took them to the Nyanyano Salt Bank to observe a pilot salt iodisation project, the Nutrition Project Site at Gomoa where a successful training of Community nutrition volunteers had been on-going, the Swedru Government Hospital and Princess Marie Louis Hospital in Accra.
Mr Ka expressed satisfaction at the level of integration of nutrition into the care of persons living with HIV and AIDS at the two hospitals without discrimination and the well developed communication materials on good nutrition.
He, however, suggested improvement in monitoring and follow-ups to ensure sustenance of the programme in Ghana.
She said there was evidence of the increasing rate of malnutrition and obesity particularly among children as well as other nutritional-related illnesses such as diabetes among the younger population.
She nonetheless admitted that there were some successful cases of interventions but more remained to be done.
She believed that the rate of malnutrition among the populace could be reduced significantly if there were stakeholder support and political commitment towards the implementation of nutritional policies and programmes.
Ms Okwabi was addressing a West African Health Organisation (WAHO) Peer Reviewing Meeting in Accra on Strengthening National Nutrition in West Africa.
She noted that challenges such as effective implementation and sustained impact backed by political commitment and fair share of the national budget remained elusive.
She observed that although nutrition was a critical item in the development status of many countries, it had remained trapped in a "low priority cycle" in most sub- Saharan African countries including Ghana.
She identified malnutrition's complex determinants and its low visibility, lack of political commitment, weak institutional and operational capacities at all levels of government as some of the biggest constraints on addressing the challenge of malnutrition.
Ms Okwabi explained that the South-South Peer Review initiative, sponsored by the World Bank and led by the WAHO of Economic Community of West African States, was aimed at enhancing policies and programmes through South-South exchange and learning.
The programme is being piloted by Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal and The Gambia.
Participating countries were expected to exchange visits, with delegations making field trips to operational sites with focus on conducting a "SWOT" (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of host countries.
The areas of focus include the policy context of a country, its programme performance, management capacity, flow of funds and financial management, institutional arrangements and financial capacity.
Mr Abdoulaye Ka, Head of a four-man Senegalese team on a visit to Ghana, commended Ghana's draft nutrition policy, saying it was multi-sectoral and addressed almost all areas of nutrition, except for some few loop-holes.
He outlined the various shortfalls identified in the policy such as lack of a clearly stated policy vision and objectives, as well as the absence of clearly identified key indicators so as to target the issue from the correct approach.
Mr Ka expressed the need for updates of key indicators to give a clear picture of the nutritional situation of the country, stressing that the policy must clearly identify major stakeholders and their responsibilities towards achieving quality nutrition.
He recommended strong advocacy in the timely release of government funding to implement nutritional programmes, adding: "You (Ghana) need to sensitise the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on the importance of nutrition in children as a major development indicator."
The Senegalese delegation undertook a field trip which took them to the Nyanyano Salt Bank to observe a pilot salt iodisation project, the Nutrition Project Site at Gomoa where a successful training of Community nutrition volunteers had been on-going, the Swedru Government Hospital and Princess Marie Louis Hospital in Accra.
Mr Ka expressed satisfaction at the level of integration of nutrition into the care of persons living with HIV and AIDS at the two hospitals without discrimination and the well developed communication materials on good nutrition.
He, however, suggested improvement in monitoring and follow-ups to ensure sustenance of the programme in Ghana.
