6 000 children hospitalised for malnutrition: UNICEF

6 000 children hospitalised for malnutrition: UNICEF

By Letwin Mubonesi

United Nations Children Emergency Fund has announced that almost 6 000 children in the country have been admitted in different healthcare institutions due to acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year.

Despite a good harvest, the UN report said millions still faced severe food insecurity with 400 000 Zimbabweans having received food assistance from its humanitarian arm between January and March this year.

“Over 5 690 children (about 3 189 girls and 2 501 boys), constituting 25% of the target, were admitted to community and facility-based programmes for the treatment of severe wasting from January to July 2021,” Unicef said in a report titled Zimbabwe: Humanitarian Response Dashboard released recently.

Nearly 1 in 3 children under five years are suffering from malnutrition while 93 percent of children between 6 months and 2 years are not consuming the minimum acceptable diet and cases of Pellagra, a deadly disease linked to micro-nutrient deficiency are also on the increase.

UNICEF launched a US$65, 8 million appeals for humanitarian assistance for Zimbabwe to mitigate against socio-economic shocks caused by covid-19 which is causing acute malnutrition in thousands of children and is also supporting Harare City Council health facilities screen and identify children with signs of malnutrition and put them on the therapeutic feeding programme.

As of August 30, 2021, UNICEF aid funds totalling about US$ 11 million had been received from various donors that included China, Germany, Japan, US Fund for UNICEF, Denmark, Danish Committee for UNICEF and UNICEF Global Thematic Humanitarian, among other partners.

“Despite improved cereal security in Zimbabwe as a result of increased maize yield in 2021, pockets of food insecurity have persisted in some areas including in urban areas where reduction in employment and household incomes compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have affected affordability of basic food, goods and services,” the report adds.

This comes at a time when the local currency has been losing value against major currencies, causing a spike in the prices of basic goods and services.

The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment (ZimVAC) 2020 rural assessment report released late last year showed that the number of households receiving UN/non-governmental organisation support increased from 13% registered in 2019 to the current 33% this year.

Nyari Mashayamombe

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