SURKHET, March 16: Details collected by the District Public Health Office(DPHO), Surkhet, shows a significant rise in the number of children suffering from malnutrition in the district.
As many as 330 children have been found struggling with malnutrition in the last six months of the current fiscal year. Basantaman Shrestha, information officer at the DPHO informed that 38 among them are suffering from under-nutrition. He further informed that most of these children are from the Dalit community.
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"Out of the total 330 malnourished children, around 200 are from the Dalit families," Shrestha informed, adding, "Most of them are below 23 months."
According to Shrestha, the number of malnourished children was 175 during a survey of last fiscal year. The DPHO has been conducting various kinds of awareness programs among the parents in order to save children from dying of malnutrition in the district. Locals have been taught to provide their children with healthy and nutritious diet.
Meanwhile, the number of woman coming to health organizations for delivery has increased too. More than 70% of women deliver their babies at hospitals and health centers these days, according to Shrestha.
Dhir Jung Shah, chief of DPHO, Surkhet, informed that the health status of locals is improving in the recent days. He is hopeful that the rate of malnutrition also decreases in the near future with the effective implementation of their programs.
