The Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Health, Gender, Social Welfare and Children Affairs has disclosed that malnutrition in Liberia is at 32 percent, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Grand Kru County Senator Peter Coleman stated that a UNICEF report revealed that 32 percent of Liberian children are mal-nourished, stating that the lack of adequate nutritious diet for children is undermining the potential growth of several Liberians across the country.
Coleman made the statement Wednesday at a one-day forum organized by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement-Liberia Secretariat on Nutrition Awareness and Public Health Law/Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes (MBS) Bill with Senators of the 54th National Legislature held at a local hotel in Sinkor.
He noted that malnutrition has been in the rural setting, but is now creeping in the urban areas which need serious attention to prevent malnourishment among Liberian children.
According to him, lack of nutritious food undermines the height of people also and it is not just genetic problem.
Senator Coleman, a medical doctor, stressed that malnutrition is a serious public health issue, noting that malnutrition affects everything about human beings.
He pointed out that government through the Ministry of Health has been revisiting the Public Health Law which has been in existence since 1972, but needs to be updated to meet current changes in the public health sector.
He maintained that the proposed New Public Health Bill will seek to address current issues confronting the public health in Liberia.
