UNICEF’s Rs4b annual grant for Sindh to continue

KARACHI:

UNICEF will continue to provide Rs4 billion annual funds for health, nutirition and extended prgramme for immunisation said UNICEF Country Chief Abdullah Fadil on Tuesday.

During a meeting with Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, he said they will prioritise their partnerships and human capital. "This includes an annual investment of Rs4 billion for health nutrition and EPI work," he said.

UNICEF Health Specialist Dr Kamal Shah, Health Secretary Zulfiqar Shah and Parliamentary Secretary for Health Qasim Siraj Soomro were also present in the meeting.

Dr Pechuho appreciated UNICEF's commitment during the floods and the use of drones for larvicide activities to control vector-borne diseases in the province.

She said the a major issue is immunocompromised children. Children who have not been immunised remains at higher risk of disease. She said the Sindh health department will also want to see if there are genetic associations between chronic diseases and malnutrition.

Fadil agreed with this strategy to tackle malnutrition and said that UNICEF can do this quickly, they have the resources, and they can go to other provinces and see if there is a connection between chronic diseases and malnutrition.

She further discussed how UNICEF can support health care in Sindh by improving the quality of Mother, Neonatal and Child Heralthcare (MNCH) services and scaling up labour rooms and MNCH interventions. Mental health is also a priority, she aded.

Mental healtrh is not the most well understood of concepts, that is why it is being included in the curriculum of social mobilisers.

There was a general consensus at the meeting that rural MNCH programmes should also focus on child-friendly hospitals and what are the ideal foods for weaning apart from promoting lactation.

Concluding, the health minister added that vaccinators should be trained to provide advice and support to the parents of the child and tell them why the antigen is important and how it will benefit the baby and any side effects.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2023.