Scott bemoans under-nutrition among children
By Fridah Nkonde
Fri 05 Apr. 2013, 14:01 CAT
VICE-PRESIDENT Dr Guy Scott says Zambian children have been denied the opportunity to develop to their full potential due to the problem of under-nutrition, which has resulted in high levels of stunting which are close to 45 per cent.
During the launch of the first 1,000 most critical days programme on Wednesday, Vice-President Scott, who was represented by community development minister Dr Joseph Katema said the first 1,000 most critical days programme was an effort to reverse the adverse nutrition status of the children which had continued to be unsatisfactory for over two decades.
"Stunting has severe consequences on the development of the child as it impacts on school performance and impairs productivity. This high level of under-nutrition makes our country to have one of the highest rates of stunting beyond the World Health Organisation cut off point," he said.
"This is unacceptable because it compromises our economic and national development potential which is dependent on children growing and developing well into strong and productive adults. As government, we are concerned because we do not want our children to become trapped in a vicious circle of factors that perpetuate and accentuate the problem of stunting."
Vice-President Scott said the problem of stunting was worsened by frequent childhood infections which were irreversible, adding that it was important to note that timing was essential in order to prevent irreversible damage within the first 1,000 days window for preventing stunting.
He said the government was aware that there were disadvantaged and impoverished sections of the population who should be the first target of poverty reduction and social protection programmes.
Vice-President Scott said the first 1,000 most critical days programme required multisectoral efforts and implored the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to strengthen its crop diversification programme.
He said government would ensure that activities under the first 1,000 most critical days in line ministries and other government institutions received the required funds from the treasury so as to contribute to the attainment of the millennium development goals one, four and five which had targeted reducing poverty, child and maternal deaths.
Vice-President Scott said government envisages reducing stunting by the year 2015.
And Civil Society Organisation - Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance coordinator William Chilufya presented 10 key recommendations to improve nutrition in Zambia.
"There is need for us as a country to build the political will to tackle under nutrition; we must ensure effective high-level national coordination. We must increase spending, we must address serious gaps to ensure adequate human resource at all levels, and we must protect nutrition funding," Chilufya said.
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the cooperating partners, DFID acting head of office Malcolm Geere said Zambia had one of the highest rates of childhood under nutrition in the world with higher rates of chronic malnutrition or stunting (46.7 per cent) than in average for Africa (42 per cent).
Labels: GUY SCOTT, HUNGER, MALNUTRITION
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COMMENT - Tax the mines for everything they owe or nationalize. That would put $1.5 billion into the hands of the state, from which they would easily fund work projects, and investments in small and medium sized agriculture, which creates the greatest number of jobs and distributes wealth over the general population. It all comes back to $3 billion a year fleeing the country. That is the result of neoliberal economics, and IMF and World Bank conditionalities based on neoliberal economic principles.
'We just have to put a stop to malnutrition'
By The Post
Sat 30 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
DR Joseph Katema, our Minister of Community Development, says that high levels of poverty in our country have contributed to the
50 per cent of our children who are malnourished. Dr Katema further says that malnutrition in our country is not as a result of poor feeding methods on the part of mothers but the shortage of food and that we need to tackle the root cause of the malnutrition.
It is true that there is a serious shortage of food in many of our families. Hunger, poverty, unemployment, hopelessness are the terms that could well define the living conditions of a great part of our population. This is an affront to our collective conscience as a people, as a nation.
It is an imperative need of our times to be aware of these realities, because of what a situation affecting so many people entails in terms of human suffering and the squandering of life and intelligence.
We have been told by Dr Katema that food shortage is the main catalyst of malnutrition in our country. Of course, there are other small causes like negligence and irresponsibility on the part of some individuals that can cause malnutrition to themselves and their children.
But malnutrition is not something that we should accept to live with. And as Dr Katema says, "we just have to put a stop to that". Malnutrition is simply a condition of the body when it is unable to absorb the right amount of nutrients in food. This low level of nutrient intake exists because of low levels of food in our country, in our homes.
Malnutrition causes many physical problems for our people. The causes of malnutrition open up a can of worms causing horrendous effects on our people.
Most of the childhood deaths from malnutrition are caused by protein-energy malnutrition. This type of malnutrition occurs when the human body doesn't consume enough protein and calories. One of the severe forms of protein-energy malnutrition is called marasmus. When a person acquires this condition, his or her body basically disintegrates to almost nothing.
The body's fat, muscle and other tissues waste away. The other form of protein-energy malnutrition is called kwashiorkor. This condition occurs when the body receives a normal amount of calories, but not enough protein. Kwashiorkor affects the properties of the liver and causes inflammation to the tissues of the body.
When the body is deficient of essential proteins, other conditions can happen to the body. When the human diet is lacking in iodine, cretinism and irreversible brain damage will occur. Cretinism is a sever stunt in growth due to a lack of thyroid hormones.
The thyroid hormones use iron in the body to control metabolic rates, protein synthesis and cell growth and differentiation in the body. When humans lack vitamin A, their bodies are susceptible to blindness and an increase in risk of infection and death.
When the body is lacking iron, fatigue sets in along with anaemia, splitting headaches and glossitis. Glossitis is an infection on the tongue. Anaemia is a state of the body when there are low levels of hemoglobin, a molecule inside red blood cells.
When there are low levels of hemoglobin, organs and tissues of the body don't receive enough oxygen. When there are low levels of vitamin D in the diet, the human body slows its growth and can contract rickets. Rickets is the softening of bone which can lead to body deformation and fractures.
When the body lacks zinc, a diminished immune system sets in and the ability to heal wounds is decreased. Also, hyperpigmentation can be acquired by the body. Hyperpigmentation is the darkening of the skin due to an increase in melanin, the pigmentation of the skin.
Abdominal changes are another effect of malnutrtion. People with malnutrition have very poor abdominal musculature which can lead to abdominal distension. Also, the body's fatty tissues inflate the abdominal region which can cause hepatomegaly. Hepatomegaly is the enlargement of the liver which results in metabolic tumours and increases toxicity levels in the body.
Malnutrition can also cause negative effects on the body's skin. The body's skin becomes dry and can be easily peeled away, leaving raw areas on the body. Also, hyperpigmented plaques grow over these raw areas on the body.
The nails on a person's hands and feet change from a smooth, healthy texture, to an unhealthy fissured or ridged texture. A person's hair can change, too. The body's hair thins and hair colour fades away to a dull brown. The hair follicles become weak and hair can be easily pulled out of the skin.
Through malnutrition, chronic illnesses and diseases can be easily acquired as well. One chronic illness that correlates with malnutrition is cystic fibrosis.
Heart diseases and neuromuscular diseases also combine with malnutrition effects. A disease that is easily contracted by people affected by malnutrition is measles. People contract measles easily when they have malnutrition because the lack of vitamins and calories in their bodies greatly reduces their immune systems' abilities.
Malnutrition's effects are especially hazardous to children. Children who have malnutrition can experience dwarfism. Also, these children can experience prematurity and developmental delays. Malnutrition even has its grasp on babies before they are born.
Mothers-to-be who are lacking essential vitamins and nutrients in their diet often give birth to badly deformed babies. Also, rickets and anaemia have been associated with babies who have mothers with malnutrition.
Whatever efforts are made today to protect our children, to prevent their death and illness, to provide them with food will shape the basic human qualities of that decisive percentage of the future population of our country.
Clearly, the effects that follow malnutrition are monstrous. If people stricken with malnutrition don't die, they can spend the rest of their lives with a misshapen body, without vision, or having pains and sores all over their body.
Shortage of food is a phenomenon intimately associated with poverty, with lack of opportunities, with ignorance, inequalities and injustice.
And as long as food security is not made a priority; as long as poverty, ignorance and unemployment fail to disappear, fail to be directly fought against, little will be achieved in improving the conditions of our people and in wiping out malnutrition.
The existence of such large numbers of undernourished people in our country constitutes an affront to all of us. A stable, permanent solution must be found to this serious problem. It is clear to all that the solution for this and other serious problems lies in the elimination of poverty, the creation of jobs, but a lot can be done right now.
The interventions by government to pull most families out of poverty and fight malnutrition that Dr Katema is talking about need to be intensified and accelerated.
Labels: MALNUTRITION, NEOLIBERALISM, POVERTY
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COMMENT - Tax the mines, and money will be available. Better yet, start treating Zambia's copper as if it belongs to the people, and demand full compensation from the mines - or they will face nationalisation.
Katema links malnutrition to high poverty levels
By Fridah Nkonde
Sat 30 June 2012, 13:24 CAT
HIGH levels of poverty in Zambia have contributed to the 50 per cent of children who are malnourished, says Dr Joseph Katema.
Dr Katema, the Minister of Community Development, Mother and Child Health said in an interview that malnutrition in the country was not as a result of poor feeding methods on the part of the mothers but shortage of food.
"We cannot say that children are malnourished because mothers are ignorant on how to feed their children. All we can say is that the main driver of malnutrition is poverty in the country and there is need for us to tackle this problem in a more integrated approach by means of empowering women in communities," Dr Katema said.
He said there were a lot of vulnerable people in communities, noting the need for his ministry to help reduce poverty which causes malnutrition through empowerment programmes which he said had already been put in place.
Dr Katema said his ministry wanted to tackle malnutrition at household level and not at health centre level because most of the children were taken to the clinic late when malnutrition had already reached its advanced stage.
He said there were groups in communities that went door-to-door to identify children who were at the verge of suffering from malnutrition.
Dr Katema said going door-to-door initiatives helped the ministry to detect the signs of malnutrition and then put up interventions in the communities.
He said tackling the root cause of the malnutrition would help prevent malnutrition in children.
"The interventions we have put in place as a ministry will help us pull most families out of poverty and also fight malnutrition. Empowering women will help our ministry deal with malnutrition at household level. What we do not want as a ministry is to have children suffering from severe malnutrition. We just have to put a stop to that," Dr Katema said.
He said it was difficult for mothers to give their children balanced meals because most of them could not afford to buy proper food and that most families did not have three meals every day.
Dr Katema said the availability of food was cardinal to the fight against malnutrition.
Labels: JOSEPH KATEMA, MALNUTRITION, POVERTY
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COMMENT - Windfall Taxes are going to solve a lot of the problems. Invested in sound economic projects (infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing), they are going to help eliminate unemployement and develop the country for the benefit of Zambians, not foreign investors.
Michael and poor's plight
By The Post
Mon 05 Mar. 2012, 12:00 CAT
"NOW when you have unemployment and poverty, that's the greatest injustice…Is it justice that some people do not know what they are going to eat in a day? Is it justice that some people do not know how it sounds to be at the end of the month?" These are very fundamental observations and very serious questions coming from Michael Sata. And it is in these observations and questions where Michael's work truly lies. These are the issues that should be always at the top of his mind and priorities.
Michael was elected President of our country to address these issues and answer these questions. And herein will lay his success or failure as President of our Republic.
Michael's observations on, and questions about, justice give us great hope and encouragement that the political leadership of our country has a feel of what needs to be done or the direction that needs to be taken. Michael was making these observations and raising these questions at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross where he was attending the World Day of Prayer.
The issues Michael is raising and the questions he is asking are the issues and questions that concerned Christ the most in his work here on earth. Christ's entire doctrine was devoted to the humble, the poor; his doctrine was devoted to fighting against abuse, injustice and the degradation of human beings.
It is not difficult to understand why the issue of justice should be so close to Michael's mind and lips. This is because what characterises our country today is the collective, majority existence of millions of hungry people. And we shouldn't forget that it is our fellow man, and especially the one who lacks life and needs justice, in whom God wishes to be served and loved.
They are the ones with whom Jesus identified. Therefore, there is no contradiction between the struggle for justice and the fulfilment of God's will. One demands the other. All who work along that line of God's scheme for life are considered Jesus' brothers and sisters (Mark 3:31-35). This is the best way to follow Jesus, especially in our country's present situation.
There is need for Michael to do everything possible and struggle to address the misery that besets large masses of human beings in our country. That misery, as a collective fact, expresses itself as injustice which cries to the heavens.
And those few words about justice from Michael have a very big message, a very strong one, for all persons in this country who hunger and thirst after justice. The very God who creates human beings in the divine image and likeness, creates the earth and all that is in it for the use of all humans in such a way that created good can reach all in a more just manner and gives them power to transform and perfect their homeland in solidarity.
It is the same God Who, in the fullness of time, sends the Son in flesh, so that he might come to liberate all persons from the slavery to which sin has subjected them: hunger, misery, oppression and ignorance - in a word, that injustice and hatred which have their origin in human selfishness.
Thus, for our authentic liberation, all of us need a profound conversion so that the kingdom of justice, love and peace might come to us. The origin of all disdain for humankind, of all injustice, should be sought in the internal imbalance of human liberty, which will always need to be rectified in history. We will not have a more just, fair and humane society without new and reformed structures, but, above all, there would be no better nation without a better political leadership.
It is time that the poor, supported and guided by their legitimate political leaders, defend their right to live. When God appeared to Moses, it was said to him: "I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt, I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave drivers…I mean to deliver them" (Exodus 3:7). Jesus took all humanity upon himself to lead it to eternal life.
And the earthly foreshadowing of this is social justice, the first form of brotherly love. Motivated by the same concern and prompted by the same spirit, we reiterate that passage to the poor and marginalised of our country and urge them to remain strong and fearless, to act as the leaven of the gospel in our country, taking strength from the words of Christ, "Stand erect, hold your heads high because your liberation is near" (Luke 21:28).
It is comforting that Michael realises that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state which he today heads. The existence of large number of hungry and undernourished people in our country constitutes an affront to all of us. A permanent solution must be found for this serious problem. There are so many people today in our country who each day cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life.
It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. Economic justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive, and to give back in service to the community. Honest and committed political leadership is required for us to achieve this, to guide the energies of all and the resources of our country towards the common good.
We have had much talk about poverty and the injustice that accompany it, that give rise to it. Many people, very good and intelligent people, have philosophised about this. But as Karl Marx observed in his 11th thesis on Feuerbach, "Philosophers have interpreted the world in different ways; the point however is to change it."
Michael has equally said a lot about the injustices against the poor and the poor's plight, however what remains is for him to struggle every day without respite and change, or make some change in, the lives of the poor by putting them at the centre of his policies, words and actions.
The poor want to see real change in their lives before the end of Michael's term of office. And they have the right to expect this from Michael because he promised them this.
Labels: MALNUTRITION, POVERTY, WINDFALL TAX
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Government must address income, nutritional poverty - JCTR
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 05 Mar. 2012, 11:58 CAT
THE government must address income and nutritional poverty if the wealth that flows from economic growth is to benefit all Zambians, states the JCTR.
In a statement released yesterday, JCTR programme officer in the Social Conditions Programme Sosten Banda stated that the significantly high percentage of households living in extreme poverty and consequently with incomes inadequate to meet the cost of basic food and essential non food items was clear testimony of the depth of poverty in the country.
Banda stated that according to the 2010 Living Conditions and Monitoring Survey Report, approximately 66.8 per cent of Zambians had incomes below K800,000.
He stated that nutritional poverty continues to be reflected by the unacceptably high chronic malnutrition rates at a national average of 45 per cent of children under five years being stunted.
Banda stated that the JCTR Rural Basket, which was a quarterly survey that measures nutritional poverty and social service delivery in selected rural districts of Zambia that include Chongwe, Masaiti, Mambwe, Mufumbwe, Kazungula and Shangombo, continues to reflect serious income and nutritional deficiencies.
He stated that the 2011 JCTR fourth quarter Rural Basket indicated that serious failure by most households to meet key nutritional requirements deviated significantly from the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended standards for an individual to lead a healthy and dignified life.
"For instance, the average energy intake in this quarter shows that most households are consuming approximately 1,500 kilocalories, falling far below the recommended 2,400 kilocalories WHO recommended threshold for a rural setting. Furthermore, over 75 per cent of households failed to meet the cost of essential non-food items. This means that households are not only nutritionally poor but also income impoverished reflected by their failure to meet the cost of essential non food items like bathing soap, among others," he stated.
Banda stated that although policy pronouncements were important as a starting point for sustainable responses, the government should go beyond policy pronouncements to implementation of strategies and programmes.
He stated that stakeholders in the rural development agenda should recognise that nutrition was not just about food.
Banda stated that necessary change in the lives of Zambians affected by nutritional poverty required concerted, broad multi-sectoral actions across agriculture and community development sectors.
He stated that concerted response needs the full engagement of affected communities, working closely with relevant government ministries, especially at the local levels.
Banda stated that the country could also benefit from global expertise and good practices as proven solutions were available in addressing income and nutritional poverty.
Labels: JCTR, MALNUTRITION, POVERTY
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45% of our children are chronically malnourished
By The Post
Fri 17 Feb. 2012, 12:00 CAT
ACCORDING to Save the Children,
45 per cent of children in Zambia are chronically malnourished and there has been
no significant improvement in reducing the rate in the last few years. Again, according to Save the Children, Zambia is one of the 10 countries in the world with the slowest annual reduction of stunting between 1990 and 2010.
The cold eloquence of these figures is in itself terrifying enough. But beyond them lies the tragic situation of hunger, abject poverty and neglect that is individualised hundreds of thousands of times over. This is an affront to our collective conscience.
[And the government's unwillingness to collect a billion dollars in taxes from the mines. - MrK]
It is an imperative need of our times to be aware of these realities, because of what a situation affecting over 45 per cent of our children entails in terms of human suffering and the squandering of life and intelligence.
Hunger, poverty, disease, ignorance, unemployment, lack of opportunity, insecurity, inequality, hopelessness are the terms that could well define the living conditions of more than 45 per cent of the children of this country.
The total failure of our endeavours to achieve the basic and essential objective of supplying our children with enough food to develop their potentialities for enjoying a full life is today more evident than ever. Malnutrition, hunger must be considered by the majority of our people as a secular, permanent condition of their precarious life.
For them, the hypothetical high growth of our economy has almost no meaning, since it has not been able to prevent or reduce the presence of hunger and under-nourishment. For the millions of hungry people living in our country today, hunger, poverty, malnutrition are not mere conceptual references, but rather tragic daily experiences, disgraceful reality.
The truth is that, despite all the utterances and promises to eradicate it, hunger persists and tends to grow in our country today. There are still many people, especially children, in this country who each day cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life.
But as we have repeatedly stated, it is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. Economic justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive, and to give back in service to the community.
A society which values its future affords the highest priority to providing food and adequate healthcare for all its children. Whatever efforts are made today to protect them, to prevent their death and illness, to provide them with food, housing, medicine, clothing and education, will shape the basic human qualities of that decisive percentage of the future population of our country.
And yet, in view of the present trends, what sort of country will we handover to those children? What sort of life lies ahead for these children who will struggle for a decent life, worth at least of human condition? What will their quality of life be like?
Squalor, disease and lack of healthcare are other basic aspects - together with hunger - characterising the dramatic situation in our country. As shown by Save the Children report, the analysis of some indicators and figures is revealing.
As long as nutrition and health fail to be considered as a fundamental right of every child and a duty of the community; as long as the responsibility of the state and of society in regard to healthcare and nutrition fail to be recognised; as long as inequalities in the distribution of health resources and food fail to disappear; as long as poverty, hunger, ignorance and squalor fail to be directly fought against, little will be achieved in improving the lives of our people.
And this is first and foremost a political fact, a political issue. A comprehensive approach is required to fight this situation and to struggle for diminishing or eradicating malnutrition, hunger. The existence of such a large number of hungry and malnourished children in our country constitutes an affront to all of us. A stable, permanent solution must be found for this serious problem.
Children are the most valuable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures. Children must no longer be tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance.
The value of what Michael Sata and his colleagues are trying to do will be measured in how far it goes to ending malnutrition and hunger and will be measured by the happiness and welfare of our children. The more than 45 per cent of our children who are chronically malnourished is a testimony to an unfinished job.
It is said that there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats, looks after its children. The true character of a society is revealed in how it looks after its children.
There is need for us to invest more resources in nutritional programmes to reduce malnutrition and stunting levels among our children. We are today trying to invest more resources in infrastructure but this investment will not be fully utilised if most of our children are stunted and malnourished and cannot go to school.
Stunted growth is a primary manifestation of malnutrition in early childhood, including malnutrition during foetal development brought on by the malnourished mother. Once established, stunting and its effects typically become permanent.
Stunted children may never regain the height lost, and most children will never gain the corresponding body weight. It also leads to premature death because vital organs never fully develop during childhood. Many of them will also face challenges in school as a result.
Malnutrition in early life is linked to deficits in children's intellectual development that persist in spite of schooling and impair their learning ability. Of course, stunting does not directly cause poor intellectual development in children.
Rather, the same underlying factors that cause stunting are also likely to impair children's intellectual growth. We should also be aware of the fact that nutrition is just one of several causes of growth stunting. Other contributors to stunting include chronic or recurrent infections, sometimes in combination with intestinal parasites.
For this reason, improving healthcare for children is extremely important. We therefore have no sensible alternative to waging a war, without respite, against malnutrition and poor health services to children.
This must be a priority for Michael and his government. If they fail to make progress on this score, everything else they are doing will be of very little value.
Labels: MALNUTRITION, POVERTY
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COMMENT - It is time for the PF to start collecting $1 to $2 billion a year from the mining sector that the government is owed TODAY in unpaid taxes, and start creating jobs through infrastructure, especially small scale irrigation to bring more land under cultivation and end the annual floods. No child in Zambia should go hunger at all. The country is too rich, but the stealing of the nation's resources by transnational corporations and banks needs to end immediately.
45% of Zambia's children chronically malnourished
By Mwila Chansa-Ntambi in Kitwe
Fri 17 Feb. 2012, 12:01 CAT
A SAVE the Children report has cited Zambia as
one of the ten countries with the slowest annual reduction of stunting between 1990 and 2010. And a new global research by Save the Children says
rising food prices and malnutrition are putting future global progress on child mortality at risk.According to a press release by Save the Children Zambia director Marc Nosbach,
45 per cent of children in Zambia were chronically malnourished and that there has been no significant improvement in reducing the rate in the last few years.
"In recent years, the world has made dramatic progress in reducing child deaths down from 12 to 7.6 million but this momentum will stall if we fail to tackle malnutrition," Nosbach stated.
He observed that malnutrition could damage children permanently, impairing their brains and bodies but that with focused action, 'we can put in place solutions which will end this scandal'.
"Although malnutrition is the underlying cause of a third of child deaths, it has not received the same high-profile campaigning and investment as other causes of child mortality like HIV/AIDS or malaria. This has meant that while the child mortality rate from malaria has been cut by a third since 2000, child malnutrition rates in Africa have decreased by less than 0.3 percent," Nosbach noted.
He added that malnutrition's costs both in human and economic terms were huge.
He added that a chronically malnourished child could have an I.Q of up to 15 times less than a properly nourished child.
He stated that the cost of child malnutrition to the global economy in 2010 alone was nearly US$121 billion.
Nosbach proposed a package of basic measures including fortifying basic foods with essential minerals or vitamins, encouraging exclusive breastfeeding for children up to six months of age and better investment in cash transfers with payments targeted at the poorest families.
He stated that the above measures could turn the tide on malnutrition and thereby reduce the vulnerability of families to food price spikes.
Nosbach stated that Save the Children was calling on all world leaders to make the malnutrition crisis visible by setting global and national targets to reduce stunting, increase funding for direct nutrition interventions such as breastfeeding and fortification and invest in effective social protection policies that reach vulnerable families.
He added that there was need for the G20 meetings to galvanise political leadership on hunger and build a plan of concrete action to tackle malnutrition.
"In Zambia we need to show the same spirit in the fight against malnutrition, as the Chipolopolo showed us during the Africa Cup of Nations," stated Nosbach.
And a new global survey by Save the Children has indicated that nearly half of families are forced to cut back on food and children are made to work to help feed their family, following years of rocketing food prices.
Save the Children warns that if no concerted action is taken, half a billion children globally would be physically and mentally stunted over the next 15 years, their lives blighted by malnutrition.
Labels: HUNGER, MALNUTRITION, POVERTY
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COMMENT - AIDS in Africa is a statistical conceit. The high prevalence levels are based on the selective use of unrepresentative survey population (pregnant women at antenatal clinics) and highly sensitive screening tests (ELISA) without more specific confirmation tests (Western Blot). This is why HIV/AIDS prevalence rates have already been revised downward before. Read:
Estimates on HIV called too high
New data cut rates for many nationsm, by John Donnelly, Globe Staff, June 20, 2004; and also
How AIDS In Africa Was Overstated - Reliance On Data From Urban Prenatal Clinics Skewed Early Projections, by Craig Timberg in the Washington Post, Thursday, April 6, 2006. Now they're connecting mortality with phosphorus deficiency, which is characteristic of malnutrition, not wasting syndrome of AIDS (lipodystrophy).
Study Links Low Phosphorus Level To Early Death in African AIDS Patients
Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 1:14
Low blood phosphorus levels are associated with high death rates in the initial weeks of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa, according to new research conducted by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers at the UAB-affiliated Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIRDZ).
In findings published May 18 in PLoS ONE, the researchers say low phosphorus seems to be a strong predictor of early death among patients beginning ART therapy.
Studies done at CIRDZ and elsewhere had previously shown high mortality in AIDS patients within the first 30 days of starting ART. In 2006, Douglas Heimburger, M.D., at the time a professor of nutrition sciences at UAB and now the associate director for education and training at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, began an observational study at CIDRZ in Lusaka, Zambia, after speculating that the cause might be linked to severe weight loss, a feature common in advanced AIDS.
“There is a precedent with a condition known as refeeding syndrome, seen in prisoners of war following World War II,” said Heimburger. “A significant number of prisoners who were underweight and malnourished upon release from captivity died within the first few weeks after access to unlimited amounts of food.”
Heimburger says studies done after the war showed that when the former prisoners ate their fill, their cells went on an uncontrolled phosphorus binge, consuming all the available phosphorus in the blood, leading to heart and lung failure.
The research team enrolled 142 patients initiating ART at the Chawama primary care clinic in Lusaka in 2006-07. Twenty five participants died during the 12-week follow up period, with 10 dying within the first four weeks. Baseline phosphorus levels were significantly higher among participants still alive at 12 weeks compared to those who had died. Thirteen patients received phosphorus supplementation due to exceedingly low levels at some time during the study.
“The scope and design of this trial do not let us conclusively claim that low phosphorus causes early mortality in these patients, but low blood phosphorus at the time of initiating ART does serve as a strong predictor of death among patients with advanced HIV disease,” said Edmond Kabagambe, DVM, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology in the UAB School of Public Health and a study co-author.
“The relation between low phosphorus and early mortality may represent a physiologic phenomenon similar to the refeeding syndrome. Additional research is warranted to establish a conclusive relationship and to examine potential therapeutic interventions.”
Heimburger says additional studies in Zambia are envisioned to better understand the link between phosphorus and death among this patient group and possibly to implement phosphorus supplementation programs for those with low phosphorus levels at the start of ART.
“Low phosphorus may be one of several factors that are involved in the observed high mortality rate,” said Heimburger. “The tragedy here is that ART is very successful in moderating AIDS symptoms and prolonging lifespan, assuming patients can survive the first few months on therapy.”
The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
About CIRDZ
Internationally acknowledged as a leader in HIV/AIDS treatment and research, maternal-child health care and studies, and cervical cancer, malaria and tuberculosis practice, CIDRZ has remained rooted in local community health care while becoming a world-renown resource for infectious disease understanding and breakthroughs.
About the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health
The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health is a vital part of global health research and development activities at Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), based in Nashville, Tenn. VUMC is renowned for its dedication to patient care, education and cutting-edge research, while VIGH provides leadership in interdisciplinary global health education, research, service and advocacy for health and development in resource-limited settings around the world. For more information, see www.mc.vanderbilt.edu.
About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is the state of Alabama’s largest employer and an internationally renowned research university and academic health center whose professional schools and specialty patient care programs are consistently ranked as among the nation’s top 50; find more information at www.uab.edu and www.uabmedicine.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a separate, independent institution from the University of Alabama, which is located in Tuscaloosa. Please use University of Alabama at Birmingham on first reference and UAB on second reference.
Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Labels: HIV/AIDS, MALNUTRITION
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Consider stunting an emergency, urges PAM
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Tuesday September 02, 2008 [04:00]
PROGRAMME Against Malnutrition (PAM) executive director Paul Kapotwe has said stunting in Zambia is very high and should be considered as an emergency. Kapotwe said even though the majority of child deaths in Zambia were preventable, the means to totally eradicate child mortality were inadequate.
"There are several causes of child and infant mortality especially in under five children. Disease is the main cause but malnutrition is also another and more prevalent cause in many cases," he said.
Kapotwe said more than 70 per cent of around 11 million child deaths every year result from either diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, lack of oxygen at birth and malnutrition.
He said malnutrition in Zambia was characterised by stunting (visible signs of slow physical and physiological growth) which currently stands around 47 per cent.
Kapotwe said others were underweight - (visible signs of reduced weight in relation to age and physical body state) - which was around 28 per cent in Zambia and wasting which was about five per cent and had been stable at that rate generally.
He said child mortality was very high in Zambia and other developing countries and was posing a constant development challenge among vulnerable households.
Kapotwe said to address malnutrition, PAM had been broadening food staple base from just maize to crops like cassava, cowpeas, beans and other foods.
He said PAM also provides nutrition information and growth monitoring.
Kapotwe said his organisation also provides home visits and technical assistance to communities to ensure practices in food processing and nutrition are adopted.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, MALNUTRITION
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PAM predicts rise in food prices
By Mwila Chansa and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Thursday May 08, 2008 [04:00]
THE Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM) predicts further rise in food prices and that Zambia is likely to import its consumption for 2009/2010 owing to government’s reduced funding to the agriculture sector. Commenting on the escalating global food prices and their implications for Zambia, PAM executive director Paul Kapotwe said reduced inflation trends that Zambia had been scoring in recent years may also not be sustained as a downturn was expected in view of food price increases.
“For Zambia, the rise in food prices could not have come at a worse time than now when the country is still reeling from the impact of floods in most parts of the country,” Kapotwe said. “Rising global food prices are also happening at a time when the government has reduced funding to the agriculture sector and social protection as pronounced in the national budget for 2008.
The implications of the above scenarios is that agricultural production for the 2008/2009 season and the consequent harvest and income levels for producers will also be very low.
As a result of this low food production in the 2008/2009 season, food prices are expected to rise and food imports may not be unusual in 2009/2010 period.”
Kapotwe further said the average crop harvest for maize still remains at 1.1 tonne per hectare when scientific evidence indicated that up to 8 tonnes could be realised in a hectare and that market opportunities and infrastructure to support increased agribusiness was also weak.
Labels: FOOD, INFLATION, MALNUTRITION
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Chronic malnutrition
By Editor
Friday January 18, 2008 [03:00]
The existence of 47 per cent of our children under the age of five with chronic malnutrition constitutes an affront to all of us as a nation. A stable, permanent solution must be found for this serious problem. Meeting the basic needs of families must take priority in any government planning, with an agricultural policy that really respects the earth, the farmer and the consumer. Hunger in our society is a sign of gross injustice and a block to development.
We cannot continue to have people each day who cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life. It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. Economic justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive, and to give back in service to the community.
It has been long known that malnutrition undermines economic growth and perpetuates poverty. Yet we have failed to tackle malnutrition over the past decades, even though well-tested approaches for doing so exist. The consequences of this failure to act are now evident in our inadequate progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and more generally toward poverty reduction.
Persistent malnutrition is contributing not only to our failure to meet the first MDG – to halve poverty and hunger – but also to meet other goals in maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, education, and gender equity. The unequivocal choice now is between continuing to fail, as we have done with HIV/AIDS for more than a decade, or to finally make nutrition central to development so that a wide range of economic and social improvements that depend on nutrition can be realised.
The returns to invest in nutrition are very high. Malnutrition slows economic growth and perpetuates poverty. And it does this through direct losses in productivity from poor physical status, indirect losses from poor cognitive function and deficits in schooling and losses owing to increased healthcare costs. Malnutrition’s economic costs are substantial: productivity losses to individuals are estimated at more than 10 per cent of lifetime earnings, and gross domestic product loss to malnutrition runs as high as two to three per cent. Improving nutrition is therefore as much – or more – of an issue of economics as one of welfare, social protection and human rights.
Reducing under-nutrition and micronutrient malnutrition directly reduces poverty, in the broad definition that includes human development and human capital formation. But under-nutrition is also strongly linked to income poverty. The prevalence of malnutrition is often higher among the poorest income quintile than among the highest quintile. This means that improving nutrition is a pro-poor strategy, disproportionately increasing the income-earning potential of the poor.
Improving nutrition is essential to reducing extreme poverty. Recognition of this requirement is evident in the definition of the first MDG, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The two targets are to halve, between 1990 and 2015: the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar per day; the proportion of people who suffer from hunger – as measured by the percentage of children under five who are underweight.
Therefore, improving nutrition is in itself an MDG target.
Malnutrition and HIV/AIDS reinforce each other, so the success of HIV/AIDS programmes depend in part on paying more attention to nutrition.
Markets are failing to address the malnutrition problem wherever families do not have the money to buy adequate food or healthcare. Human rights and equity arguments, as well as economic return arguments, can be made for government to intervene to help such families. And the government should intervene because improved nutrition is a public good, benefiting everybody. For example, better nutrition can reduce the spread of contagious diseases and increase national economic productivity.
Under-nutrition’s most damaging effect occurs during pregnancy and in the first two years of life, and the effects of this early damage on health, brain development, intelligence, educability, and productivity are largely irreversible. Actions targeted at all the children have little, if any effect. With the government’s very limited resources, it is therefore advised that we focus our actions on this small window of opportunity, between conception and 24 months of age.
Income growth and food production, as well as birth spacing and women’s education are therefore important but long routes to improving nutrition. Shorter routes are providing health and nutrition education and services such as promoting exclusive breast feeding and appropriate complementary feeding, coupled with pre-natal care and basic maternal and child health services and micronutrient supplementation and fortification.
We need to reposition nutrition much higher in our development agenda.
But we are not alone with this problem. It is a problem that is affecting so many fellow Third World countries. Over 46 years have elapsed since the World Indicative Plan for Agriculture Development was presented within the framework of FAO in 1962. It reflected the difficult food and agricultural development situation at the time and established the guidelines for a programme that was, by the end of the 1980s, to make hunger and undernourishment mere bitter memories of an unpleasant past for the peoples of the Third World and turn the agricultural sector into a dynamic development factor instead of a traditionally stagnant and weak sector.
Over 34 years have, likewise, elapsed since the World Food conference in Rome in 1974, urgently convened in view of the massive famines and alarming decrease of food reserves recorded those years. On that occasion, the conference solemnly declared that hunger and undernourishment should be stamped out on the planet in 10 years and called on all nations to cooperate in an enormous effort for international food security.
The failure of these endeavours to achieve the basic and essential objective of supplying all human beings with enough food to develop their potentialities for enjoying a full life is today more evident than ever. The fact that today in 2008 about 47 per cent of Zambian children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition and the near billion hungry people in the world – a terrifying and skyrocketing figure – are turning into a tragic irony the good intentions of the World Indicative Plan of reaching a calorie-intake level equal to the projected demand in the Third World by 1975, and that this intake surpassed by 10 per cent the required levels by 1985. It is obvious that the eradication of hunger as stated by the World Food Conference is simply one more well-meant although unsuccessful attempt of the kind that characterise the path of our countries’ negotiating positions in the world economy.
The so-called food crisis is not a recent phenomenon, although the current deep economic crisis contributes to its worsening. Strictly speaking, the food crisis, understood as widespread hunger and malnutrition among the broad masses of the population – so paradoxically in contrast with food over consumption by some minorities – has always been an avoidable component of colonialism, neo-colonialism and underdevelopment. The food crisis must be considered by the majority of the underdeveloped world as a secular, permanent condition of their precarious life. For them, the hypothetical recovery of the developed economies has almost no meaning, since not even the greatest economic booms of the system have been able to prevent the present of hunger and undernourishment in the Third World. For the hundreds of millions of hungry people living in our world, the food crisis is not a mere conceptual reference, but rather a tragic daily experience, a disgraceful reality for all humankind.
The painful truth is that, despite the goals to eradicate it, hunger persists and tends to grow.
And all this is happening in the midst of an unbridled arms race, senseless both because of its essence, dangerousness and dimensions, and because of the contrast between the huge resources spent in developing means for man’s extermination and our people’s vital and daily needs. The existence of large numbers of hungry and undernourished people in the world constitutes an affront to all mankind. A stable, permanent solution must be found for this serious problem.
Labels: FOOD, MALNUTRITION
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