Media urged to step up fight against malnutrition

The 1,000-day national campaign against malnutrition will succeed if the media plays their rightful role, officials have said.The remarks were made during a one-day media orientation workshop organised by the Ministry of Health in Kigali last week. Nathan Mugume, the Head of Division, Rwanda Health Communication Centre (RHCC) urged the media to play a major role in awareness campaigns.“In order to end malnutrition, we need to take this campaign to the grassroots, and this can never be possible without the media,” Mugume said.He urged the media to analyse and make sense of the campaign instead of merely reporting.The call comes a few days before the start of the second phase of the campaign, in January and expected to end in June, 2014.Mugume said the first phase of the campaign which involved a three-month nationwide awareness campaign, was a success since 96 per cent of the planned activities were accomplished.“Almost everybody countrywide now has heard about the campaign. However, the media still have a big role to play in the implementation process,” he said.Justin Rutayisire, the head of communication at the United Nations International Children Emmergency Fund (Unicef), said about $190,000 had been mobilised in the first phase, and promised further co-operation in the next phase.“We shall continue our assistance both financially and in capacity building through organising training, and other programmes,” Rutayisire said. Dr Otto Vianney Muhinda, the coordinator of Food Security and Nutrition at the Ministry of Agriculture, said various programmes have been launched in the four provinces, and the City of Kigali, all in preparation for the next phase of the campaign.“Some of these programmes include pushing for the introduction of a kitchen garden in every home, model garden at cell level, and distribution of milk to families with malnourished children,” Muhinda said.The 1,000-days campaign is a national initiative that seeks to improve feeding among children under five years, pregnant and lactating mothers, as well as school going children, in an effort to reduce morbidity and mortality related to malnutrition. It’s expected to end in October 2016.Other players in the campaign are; ministries of Gender and Family Promotion, Education, and Local Government.According to the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), 44 per cent of children under age five are stunted largely because of malnutrition.

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Media urged to step up fight against malnutrition