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Nutrition allowance for pregnant, breastfeeding women halted

05 Jul 2022

BY Dinitha Rathnayake  The programme to provide a nutrition allowance worth Rs. 20,000 to pregnant women and lactating mothers has been stopped without prior notice due to a lack of funds of the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs, and Social Empowerment. “A circular has been issued to stop this programme as the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment does not have sufficient funds,” Divisional Secretariats (DSs) told The Morning yesterday. Through this programme, which started in 2015, every pregnant woman registered with a Medical Officer of Health Office was provided with a nutrition allowance in the form of a nutrition pack worth Rs. 20,000, consisting of all nutrients required by pregnant women or lactating mothers, for 10 months, through the use of coupons. But a new method had been introduced to issue vouchers instead of coupons with the aim of making it convenient for pregnant women and lactating mothers to purchase the recommended food items from Sathosa outlets. Under this, 10 vouchers, each valued at Rs. 20,000, are provided at the same time. It is possible to obtain the entire pack of nutritious food items within the last six months of the pregnancy and the first four months of lactation.  Rs. 5,500 million has been allocated for this purpose and the expenditure borne by the end of October, 2015, was Rs. 3,495.867 million while approximately 1,747,933 nutrition packs had been distributed among the beneficiaries. However, speaking to The Morning, several pregnant women claimed that they are not in a position to buy nutritious food due to the increase in prices, adding that this was the only consolation they had. “All Sathosa outlets have been advised to stop providing goods for these vouchers.”   Meanwhile, Ministry Secretary H.K.D.W.M.N.B. Hapuhinne, speaking to The Morning, said that this programme was stopped due to a Cabinet paper seeking to exclude rich people who obtain these vouchers.  “Previously, without any selection, this voucher was provided even to the rich, but now we have excluded people with a monthly income above Rs. 45,000. Once the Cabinet paper is approved, we would be able to provide the facility again.” Previously, the Family Health Service Officers’ Association had expressed concerns over the shortage of multiple micro nutrients, a supplement with several micro nutrients and vitamins including iron and zinc, which are important for a child’s healthy physical and cognitive development. “Also, infants between six to 11 months of age should receive one 100,000 international unit dose of vitamin A a day, which is normally provided by Government clinics, but is also lacking at present.” Further, a daily dose of iron (30 milligrams of elemental iron) during pregnancy improves women’s iron status and protects their infants from iron deficiency anaemia. “We are unable to provide them for pregnant women at the moment,” she said. Additionally, there is a shortage of BP-Five biscuits, which are a high-calorie, vitamin-fortified, compact, compressed, and dry, emergency food, and Thriposha, which are also required for the provision of nutrition. “As responsible citizens, we need to provide nutrition for children as it is their right,” the association added. The association also claimed that in Sri Lanka, almost 20 out of 50 children are of low weight. “Maybe the high-income earners will not suffer from this crisis, but what about low-income and daily-wage earners? This is a risk pertaining to generating a healthy and wise young generation. Don’t let your child suffer from malnutrition,” the association further added.


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