Program to curb child malnutrition in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 May 2001, 07:56 GMT]
Three infants who were in a critical stage of acute malnutrition were found and handed over to the Nutrition and Rehabilitation Centre in Puthukkudiyiruppu in the Mullaithivu district Thursday, according to the Voice of Tigers. The Socio-economic Development Organisation (SEDO) is currently engaged in identifying infants and children afflicted by acute malnutrition in the Vanni due to the economic embargo by the Sri Lankan government on the region, the radio said. The children and infants would be handed over to the care of Nutrition and Rehabilitation Centres until they completely recover, the VOT added, quoting Mr. Jude, the co-ordinator of the SEDO.

The Nutrition and Rehabilitation Centres are assisted by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation. Mr.Jude said that the majority of the infants and children afflicted by acute malnutrition are from among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the Vanni. Repeated displacements, the destruction of farmlands and the high prices of essentials in the Vanni are the main cause of widespread acute malnutrition among IDPs and their children, the VOT quoted Mr. Jude as saying.

A children’s nutrition awareness program would also be organised among IDPs and the parents most affected by the economic embargo in the Vanni. In addition, the activities of the Nutrition and Rehabilitation Centres would be expanded further, sources said.