The need to endorse the Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition

By Jeremiah Sawyerr

Every year, poor nutrition is the underlying cause of at least one third of all deaths of children under five. When children do not get the right food or enough food in their first few years, they are essentially handed a life sentence. These children are weaker, grow poorly, and have a higher risk of illness, and consequentially will have lower economic and education prospects. Malnutrition is due to both inadequate dietary intake and infectious disease (e.g. diarrhoea). Since 2005, malnutrition was declining by an estimated rate of 1.4 per cent a year but that progress has stalled.

That is why many organisations, including World Vision Sierra Leone, are uniting to call for action on this child killer. And next week’s World Health Assembly, in Geneva, Switzerland, represents a great opportunity to make concrete progress on improving the nutrition of children and mothers. When delegates from Ministries of Health from around the world, including Sierra Leone’s, gather, campaigners will be lobbying them to support a crucial resolution.

This is known as the Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition. It might sound like quite a mouthful but that’s just what it could achieve for mothers and children – the chance for a better start in life because of better nutrition. If passed, the resolution would bring immense attention to the health and nutrition concerns of women and young children. It will send a clear message back to governments that cost-effective interventions exist and with greater support can be scaled up to dramatically improve health outcomes.

In 2015, only three short years away, governments will be held accountable for their achievement towards the MDG targets. The resolution will strengthen existing policies put in place to achieve the health related MDGs 1, 4, 5 and 6. In Sierra Leone the resolution to pass the Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition would reinforce the ‘Agenda for Change’, otherwise known as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II (PRSP). This would greatly help to redirect government resources towards addressing maternal and under-five health and nutrition in the country.

Right now Member States are being invited to co-sponsor the resolution, and to raise their collective voice on this important issue. It is imperative that the Geneva delegates speak with a sense of urgency about the significance of such a resolution, and to usher support for the resolution to be tabled. From all indications there is a danger that some countries may stall the resolution causing it to be taken off the agenda. If so, another year would pass before it could be voted on again, preventing support for countries to achieve their MDG targets.  Previous Sierra Leonean delegation lists indicate that the representatives have a comprehensive understanding of the status of children and women in their country. This year’s delegates will decide whether or not to mark another milestone in the struggle to improve the health status of women and children across developing countries. The Plan represents a fantastic chance to do just that.

The adopted resolution would support policies that many governments are pioneering to bring lasting development in the lives of their citizens. Some pessimists would say the adoption of the resolution will start the process of what would end up to be a marathon process for countries to domesticate or implement it. But proponents argue that the resolution would instead strengthen efforts by various Member States and increase the attention of development partners to these issues and therefore accelerate progress to achieve the health-related MDGs.

The resolution on maternal, infant and young child nutrition strongly complements ongoing efforts in many countries, particularly in Sierra Leone where the government has launched the Free Health Care (FHC) Policy for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under the age of five.  Sierra Leone’s new FHC policy removes many formal and informal fees for maternal and child health services and puts in place a number of initiatives to ensure that implementation of the policy is successful. This policy presents a strong framework where nutrition interventions can be well-integrated.

The Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition provides the framework for action and nutrition targets for Member States to aim for by 2025. It also outlines how international actors, led by World Health Organization (WHO), can facilitate increased progress and results. The plan sets targets for significantly improving maternal and child nutrition over a 13-year period (2012-2025), sets out five priority areas for action, and gives guidance to countries about how to move forward. This framework can be tailored in order to support the operationalization of the Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone. The MoHS Nutrition Department requires greater support to adequately scale up nutrition programming in the country. Endorsing the Plan will attract attention from the WHO in-country team as well as other development partners who are looking to base their investments around government priorities. Since nutrition cuts across many sectors, civil society actors could be included in the implementation because of their extensive experience at community level.

World Vision’s Child Health Now Campaign in Sierra Leone welcomes and strongly urges the government to endorse the Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition to be presented at the 65th World Health Assembly.

Jeremiah Sawyerr runs the Child Health Now campaign at World Vision, seeking to end the preventable deaths of children under 5 and their mothers. World Vision is working closely with the Scaling Up Nutrition movement in a number of countries, and globally, to build a stronger response to nutrition, encouraging governments to take the lead with the involvement of all stakeholders. progress and results. The plan sets targets for significantly improving maternal and child nutrition over a 13-year period (2012-2025), sets out five priority areas for action, and gives guidance to countries about how to move forward. This framework can be tailored in order to support the operationalization of the Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone. The MoHS Nutrition Department requires greater support to adequately scale up nutrition programming in the country. Endorsing the Plan will attract attention from the WHO in-country team as well as other development partners who are looking to base their investments around government priorities. Since nutrition cuts across many sectors, civil society actors could be included in the implementation because of their extensive experience at community level.

World Vision’s Child Health Now Campaign in Sierra Leone welcomes and strongly urges the government to endorse the Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition to be presented at the 65th World Health Assembly.

Jeremiah Sawyerr runs the Child Health Now campaign at World Vision, seeking to end the preventable deaths of children under 5 and their mothers. World Vision is working closely with the Scaling Up Nutrition movement in a number of countries, and globally, to build a stronger response to nutrition, encouraging governments to take the lead with the involvement of all stakeholders.