Healthcare: WFP gives medical, IT equipment worth Rs4.3m

Donation will boost the quality of nutrition in 10 key districts, says WFP country director.

HYDERABAD:

The World Food Programme (WFP) handed over medical and information technology equipment worth Rs4.3 million to the health department in Sindh on Thursday.

During the ceremony, Dr Durre Shahwar and Dr Saleem Ahmed of the health department received the equipment on behalf of health secretary Inamullah Dharejo. The equipment includes weighing scales, height boards, MUAC tapes, hemocues, stethoscope and blood pressure apparatus. The donation is aimed at boosting the quality of nutrition and healthcare services in 10 key districts of Sindh, said WFP country director Lola Castro.

“We have to address the root cause of the problem,” she said.

“We know that malnutrition levels in Sindh are alarming. Together with the help of the government, the WFP has been providing support through the supply of non-food items and food products.”

These equipments, she said, would be distributed among 254 rural health centres by the provincial health department.

They will improve monitoring, reporting and coordination capacities of project implementation units and the provincial nutrition cell. The districts benefitting from the contribution include Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Tharparkar, Jacobabad, Dadu, Larkana and Kashmore, Castro added.

So far this year, WFP has distributed over 1,335 metric tonnes of specialised food (supplementary food produced in the country) under the Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (cmam) intervention in the province. Nearly 192,030 moderately-malnourished children and 34,502 pregnant and nursing women are being assisted through the 175 cmam sites.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2013.