Community members take ending malnutrition into their own hands
By António Massipa
Juvencio, a four-year-old boy, has made a remarkable recovery from acute malnutrition thanks to the efforts of a local community health committee in Monapo district, Nampula province, in the North of Mozambique.
Between 2022 and 2023, Juvencio suffered from acute malnutrition, but he was diagnosed and successfully rehabilitated during that period. Today, he is in good health and weighs 17kg.
According to Juvencio's mother, Deorina, he was initially born healthy, weighing 3.3kg. However, after a few months, he started losing weight. Deorina only became aware of this issue during an education and rehabilitation session that she was invited to attend along with other mothers. "This session was led by a health committee in her community, who weighed Juvencio and determined that he was underweight for his age and height."
Upon recognizing the severity of the situation, the committee referred Juvencio to a health facility, where he received the necessary medical attention and was diagnosed with acute malnutrition. In addition to supplementation, Deorina was advised to continue participating in nutrition education and rehabilitation sessions with her local health committee.
“I decided to continue attending the education and rehabilitation sessions in the community to learn how to take care of my son's nutrition, since I had been there for one day only, when they discovered that my son was under-weight. I learned how to prepare nutritious food with low-cost local products, including flour, peanuts, moringa, eggs, fish, onions and tomatoes, and leaf vegetables. My son started eating nutritious food, recovered and is now healthy,” explains Deorina.
The boy’s mother is not a member of the health committee, but she says “I would like to join the committee because I really want to teach other mothers how to prevent malnutrition in their children. I've already taught three mothers, but I'd like to be able to teach many more people and I think that by joining the health committee I could achieve more results.”
Juvencio's story is highly encouraging and highlights the crucial role of community-led efforts in combating malnutrition. In this particular case, the community health committee proved instrumental. The Governor of the Province, Manuel Rodrigues Alberto, emphasized the urgent need for, "collective action to eradicate this affliction that affects 47.4% of the population, particularly children".
It is worth noting that in 2018, when the Deorina community health committee was established, there were 76 reported cases of moderate acute malnutrition and 19 cases of severe acute malnutrition. However, by 2023, those numbers had significantly decreased to 12 and two, respectively.
Furthermore, the expertise gained by this health committee in nutrition education will be extended to other regions through World Vision's 'ENOUGH' campaign. Over the course of three years, this initiative aims to eliminate child hunger and malnutrition by promoting food security and implementing nutrition interventions. The ultimate goal is to ensure that every child has access to enough nourishing food to thrive.