The Ministry of Health through the State Department of Public Health and Professional Standards is stressing the urgency of addressing nutrition concerns amidst the environmental challenges brought about by floods, landslides, and food insecurity.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and young children are particularly vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies during such emergencies.
Mary Muthoni Muriuki, Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, issued an advisory on May 15, 2024, providing specific guidance for each vulnerable group.
This includes recommendations to seek assistance from health service providers or humanitarian organizations within displacement camps, maintain intake of essential supplements, increase meal intake to support nutrition, ensure hydration, and adhere to exclusive breastfeeding practices.
Additionally, the Ministry has outlined a series of actions taken as part of its flood response efforts.
These include coordination of meetings, prepositioning of nutrition commodities, malnutrition screening initiatives, plans for mass screening in displacement camps, rapid assessments, repurposing of health and nutrition outreaches, and monitoring of violations of regulations prohibiting inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children.
The PS further emphasized the importance of collective action to safeguard the nutritional well-being of mothers, infants, and young children during these challenging times.
The Ministry’s advisory serves as a timely intervention to mitigate the impact of the ongoing long rains on the health and nutrition of vulnerable populations across the country.
