MWAPE MWENYA, Lusaka
CIVIL Society Organisation Scaling-Up Nutrition (CSO-SUN) has asked any presidential candidate who will emerge victorious in yesterday’s elections to prioritise nutrition in governing the country.
CSO-SUN national co-ordinator William Chilufya said in an interview that nutrition is an important aspect in the governance of the country as it helps reduce infant mortality rates.
“We are very excited and expectant of our politicians who included the nutrition aspect in their campaign promises, our appeal is for these promises to be fufilled,” Mr Chilufya said.
He said Zambia has made strides in fighting malnutrition by reducing the stunting levels from 46 percent in 2007 to 40 percent for the 2013/2014 according to the health demographic health survey.
Mr Chilufya has attributed the reduced stunting levels to efforts Government has put in place such as budgetary allocation to nutrition programmes.
He said his organisation has also strengthened its efforts in combating malnutrition through various programmes in communities.
“Government has already shown its commitment to ending hunger and malnutrition, our appeal to presidential aspirants is to ensure that they fulfil their promises and not only making promises for campaign purposes,” He said.
Mr Chilufya has called on various stakeholders to get involved in fighting malnutrition stating that it is not only a health problem but a matter of national development.
He said his organisation has since engaged musicians as ambassadors to spread educative information in communities through songs.
“We decided to engage top musicians in the country because their music is influential and we are hopeful that many people will grasp the message easily, this is why we say nutrition is not only a health issue but a matter of national development,” he said.
Mr Chilufya is optimistic that stunting will reduce further if various stakeholders take up a comprehensive approach towards nutrition programmes.