PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah will launch Maternal Nutrition Campaign (NourishMaa) next month.
The launch was decided in a meeting chaired by Minister Health Syed Qasim Ali Shah on Tuesday. The NourishMaa campaign will be launched at KP in mid of May to disseminate the efforts in the province.
A delegation of Nutrition International, led by Dr Irfan Deputy country director and Imtiaz Ali Shah program Manager KP met minister health in his office.
Dr Irfan while briefing the minister told that the Maternal Nutrition Campaign (NourishMaa), aligned with the Pakistan
Maternal Nutrition Strategy 2022, is a collaborative effort between Nutrition International, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (MoNHSR&C), Provincial Departments of Health (DoH), and key stakeholders such as the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and the Society of Obstetrics and Gynecologists Pakistan (SOGP).
The NourishMaa Campaign aims to “improve the knowledge and capacity of Health Care Providers (HCPs) and Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) to advance maternal nutrition interventions in Pakistan”.
He furthered that the program is planned to be inaugurated in provinces by minister health next month.
NourishMaa campaign uses a three pronged approach to sensitize health are practitioners/female health workers on maternal nutrition through policy influence, interpersonal communication including Credit hour training packages/face to face visits and sensitization seminars and a Media components utilizing different channels of print, mainstream and social media effectively.
Syed Qasim Ali Shah was informed that nutrition international is supporting the scale up of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) in Batagram District of KP to improve the health of mothers and babies by reducing anemia in mothers. For this purpose, NI will train all public sector health providers involved in antenatal care services to provide counselling on MMS. NI will also ensure provision of MMS Tablets to the Health Department, Batagram.
During the Project implementation an Implementation Research Study will also be implemented to gauge the process and outcomes of MMS Scale up services on health of mothers and babies.
Dr Irfan told that Large-Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) Program is aimed at combating malnutrition through partnerships with government food departments, food authorities, millers, and other key stakeholders by fortifying essential staples such as wheat flour, edible oil, and salt with vital vitamins and minerals. Program provides support to industry expertise in processes and strengthens government capacities to enforce quality standards to ensure fortified foods are available in markets for consumers.
Minister health was told that Nutrition International supports the provincial and district governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to strengthen maternal and newborn health and nutrition services. The overall strategy design was developed after a series of internal and external consultations, with a focus on ensuring pregnant women receive iron containing supplements MMS for anaemia reduction.
