Children have their height and weight measured by medical staff at Muong Chanh Commune Health Station.
Among the children is Minh Anh, 7 years old, born prematurely at 7 months and 5 days old, weighing 1.1 kg. Currently, she weighs only 14 kg and is weak. Every day, Minh Anh works with her mother from 9 am to evening. She is regularly supported by the health station with nutritional products, vitamins and full vaccinations.
Muong Chanh is the first new-style rural commune of Muong Lat district, and is also one of the bright spots in implementing the program to prevent malnutrition for children. According to the head of the commune health station, Lo Van Tham, the district health center and the commune health station have advised the locality to include the target on preventing malnutrition in children under 5 years old in the system of socio -economic development indicators. From this target, the commune People's Committee has annually developed an action plan, with many activities, such as: weighing children to monitor growth and identifying priority groups that need intervention, giving Vitamin A to children under 5 years old, giving deworming medicine to children from 24 months to 60 months old... With many positive activities implemented, the rate of children under 5 years old with malnutrition in Muong Chanh commune has decreased every year.
In recent years, Muong Lat district has paid special attention to the prevention of malnutrition in children. The goals of malnutrition prevention have been included in the documents of party congresses at all levels and have become a priority task in the socio-economic development program of the government as well as the action program of social organizations. In particular, Resolution 11 on the construction and development of Muong Lat district to 2030, with a vision to 2045, has set specific goals on this issue. After 2 years of implementing Resolution 11, the rate of children under 5 years old with malnutrition has decreased to 22.5%, exceeding the set target (below 30%).
Although the rate of children under 5 years old with malnutrition in Muong Lat has improved and exceeded the target set by the Provincial People's Council Resolution, this figure is still higher than the general average. The main reason comes from the district's very low starting point when implementing target programs. With a large area, complex mountainous terrain, scattered population and inconvenient transportation, access to health care in Muong Lat is difficult. People in some localities are not fully aware of the importance of health care. The work of improving nutritional health is especially difficult in Mong villages such as Ta Com, Ca Giang, Canh Cong (Trung Ly commune), Sai Khao, Trung Thang (Muong Ly commune), On (Tam Chung commune)... To reach these villages, health workers have to overcome dozens of kilometers of steep, slippery mountain roads or spend millions of VND for each boat trip. Meanwhile, human resources and funding for implementing the programs are still very limited.
Children in Muong Lat district are vaccinated and given vitamins periodically, free of charge.
Mr. Le Quoc Huan, Deputy Director of the Center for Preventive Medicine of Muong Lat district, analyzed: "Difficult living conditions make the quality of life of children very low. Daily meals only include wild vegetables and bamboo shoots, lacking essential nutrients. In particular, many young families, after 4-5 months of giving birth, leave their children with their grandparents and go to work far away. Although grandparents love their grandchildren, they are old, have economic difficulties, and have limited awareness of nutrition, so the children are always stunted and pale."
In terms of finance, although the national target program budget is fully allocated, the allocation is slow and disbursement is difficult due to the lack of detailed instructions. Mr. Huan said: "Usually, the center only receives the decision to allocate the budget in the middle of the year, causing the implementation to be discontinuous. At the beginning of the year, a list of malnourished children is made for intervention, but when the budget is available, the subjects are already over the age of receiving the policy, so the list must be adjusted."
In the 2024-2025 period, Muong Lat district aims to significantly reduce the rate of malnutrition in children under 16 years old. Specifically, the rate of malnutrition in children under 5 years old with stunting will decrease by 1%, wasting by 0.5%; and the rate of malnutrition in children aged 5-16 years old with stunting will decrease by 2%. The district also strives for at least 80% of malnourished children under 16 years old to be supplemented with multiple micronutrients; reduce the rate of anemia in children under 5 years old to below 20% and pregnant women to below 30%; reduce the rate of zinc deficiency in children under 5 years old to below 60% and pregnant women to below 70%... The solutions that have been and are being implemented and the participation of the political and social system are the necessary "push" to change awareness and behavior on preventing and combating malnutrition in each person and family.
Article and photos: Tang Thuy
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/cai-thien-tinh-trang-suy-dinh-duong-o-tre-em-muong-lat-250922.htm
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