When Free State health MEC Montseng Tsiu took the podium in April to deliver her budget speech, she said there was an increase in deaths of children under five, mostly due to severe acute malnutrition – from 3.1% in the 2020/21 financial year to 9.6% in...
On the day Luleka Gqumeta’s baby died, she says she was on the streets begging for food for herself and her children. It was October 2020, amid Covid-19 social restrictions, and Gqumeta – unemployed with three other schoolgoing children – was struggling to feed her family. Her baby, Alwandle, was six months old.
“I was exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months after birth,” says Gqumeta, “and for the baby to gain more weight I was given supplements and was advised to have peanut butter with every meal that I eat, but that did not help.”“The nurses used to tell me they are worried about the child’s weight, but unfortunately, he passed away. I am an adult and I know that my child died of hunger.
When Free State health MEC Montseng Tsiu took the podium in April to deliver her budget speech, she said there was an increase in deaths of children under five, mostly due to severe acute malnutrition – from 3.1% in the 2020/21 financial year to 9.6% in 2021/22. According to Stats SA, almost 23.6% of people living in South Africa in 2020 were affected by moderate to severe food insecurity while almost 14.9% experienced severe food insecurity.
The various forms of malnutrition can occur in the same household and even in the same child, she says.According to Walsh, it is important to prioritise the challenges faced by specific populations, which include the elderly, women – especially those of child-bearing age – children and those with pre-existing medical conditions, most notably HIV/Aids, TB and non-communicable diseases.
“The severe effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on early nutrition could have long-term effects on schooling, the risk of developing chronic diseases and the development of all human capital if proper measures are not taken,” she says.One of the reasons for the increase in the Free State, Mvambi says, is a decline in people attending health facilities during the hard lockdown in 2020.
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