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Kenya Launches Global Report on Child Malnutrition
The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation has today in conjunction with Save the Children EVERY ONE campaign, launched a public awareness and advocacy campaign to address the rising prevalence of infant and child malnutrition in Kenya.
The campaign’s launch follows the release of a global report on hunger and malnutrition last week that revealed a steep rise in infant and child malnutrition, placing at 60 million the number of malnourished African children. Terming malnutrition as a hidden crisis, the report notes that an estimated 2.6 million child deaths are as a direct result of malnutrition.
In the report ‘A Life Free from Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition’, Save the Children shows that rising food prices and malnutrition are putting additional pressure on countries with already high burdens of child mortality. Unless tackled now, the report continues, over the next 15 years, a further half a billion children’s lives around the world will be left blighted by malnutrition.
The public awareness and advocacy campaign launched today will seek to enlist the proactive participation of the wider population in stemming malnutrition, while collaborating with the government of Kenya to tackle malnutrition from a broader multi-sectoral perspective.
The event was graced by high dignitaries from the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Agriculture, including development partners from UNICEF, GAIN, Concern Worldwide, PSI, Child Health Services, media, Nutritionists and campaign advocates.
Local media personalities Anne Kiguta and Lillian Muli-Kanene recently signed up as nutrition ambassadors, alongside one of Kenya’s leading stand up comedian Eric Omondi.
