The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has reviewed the 2nd periodic report of Cambodia.
The CRC members were much concerned about the high levels of child mortality and malnutrition which impacts 40% of children under five in Cambodia.
The government delegation reported that the high mortality rate is related to malnutrition: 50 % of child mortality is due to diarrhea and respiratory infections.
The government of Cambodia has implemented the Child Survival Strategy in order to tackle these problems through 12 interventions, which are mostly focused on breastfeeding.
The Ministry of Health has taken care of acute malnutrition by providing micronutrients to children in some provinces and has strengthened the care of children in hospitals. It has also taken other measures such as iodizing the salt.
The delegation said that the high infant mortality rate was related to the health of the mother and for children that died within the first 30 days, it was primarily due to problems during the pregnancy, the mother’s nutrition or a difficult labour. 50% of child juiveries were done by trained birth attendants and 70 % of mothers came to the clinic for pre and post natal services. The government provided at least one midwife per health centre and would increase this to two midwives.
For more information on the situation of infant and young child feeding in Cambodia, please refer to the IBFAN alternative report.
No comments:
Post a Comment