| Project Detail |
Guatemala has a malnutrition problem and, between 2014 and 2015, the rate of chronic malnutrition (growth retardation) among girls and boys under five years of age is the highest in Latin America and the sixth highest in the world. Chronic malnutrition is also correlated with poverty rates. In the departments of Totonicapán and El Quiché, which have high rates of poverty, the malnutrition situation is serious. The national average for the rate of low birth weight babies is around 15%. In addition, severe acute malnutrition (wasting) among children under 5 years of age has decreased significantly, but the number of cases has increased due to the impact of COVID-19.
In addition, overweight and obesity are increasing in both adults and children. Apparently, the country faces the problem of the "double burden of malnutrition" in which undernutrition and overnutrition coexist, and it is necessary to raise awareness about the need to improve nutrition and health promotion.
The government has developed its health and nutrition policy in line with the Montevideo Declaration (2005), which reaffirmed the importance of primary health care (PHC) in Latin America. In 2005, the Law of the National Food and Nutrition Security System was promulgated, and the Secretariat of Food and Nutrition Security of the Presidency of the Republic was established as a sectoral coordination body (hereinafter it will be referred to as "SESAN"). In 2011, SESAN officially announced its participation in the initiative called "Scaling Up Nutrition", and in its long-term national development plan, Katun 2032 (2014), food security and nutritional guarantee for children have been prioritized. under five years of age.
In 2020, the government also established the improvement of chronic malnutrition and maternal and child mortality as priority issues, and has launched a nutrition improvement strategy called the "Great National Crusade for Nutrition" (hereinafter referred to as " National Crusade") to address the issue of malnutrition in a broader and intersectoral way.
However, according to the National Crusade, malnutrition in the country is a structural problem that is intertwined with social and development factors related to poverty and inequality. It points out that the root causes include exclusion and discrimination based on gender and ethnicity. This creates difficulties in accessing basic services and information to improve nutrition at the community level and leads to maternal malnutrition, inadequate food intake and serious infections.
To solve these problems, the Guatemalan government requested a technical cooperation project that aims to improve maternal and child nutrition by strengthening a service delivery system that involves multiple sectors and is aimed at improving maternal and child nutrition at the community level. .
The project intends to improve maternal and child nutrition in the area covered by the project, for which 1) the elaboration of the "Strategy for the Provision of Primary Health Care Services (PHC) to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition" will be undertaken. (hereinafter it will be referred to as the "PHC Provision Strategy") reinforced by the community agents of maternal and child nutrition * (hereinafter it will be referred to as "community agents"), 2) the strengthening of the capacities of the human resources that provide services of PHC jointly (health workers and community agents), 3) multisectoral activities by community agents at the municipal level,and 4) Share the dissemination processes and lessons learned from the implementation of the Strategy with other DAS and Municipal Health Districts (DMS).
(*) Community maternal and child nutrition agents are defined as "existing and functioning community volunteers who play a role in helping to provide services in PHC". Community agents can be: Members of the Health Committee, Community Facilitators, Midwives, etc.
Aim
Maternal and child nutrition is improved in the areas under the jurisdiction of the DAS of Totonicapán and Quiché.
Project Objectives
"The Strategy for the Provision of Primary Health Care Services (APS) to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition" is operating and expanding in the prioritized communities under the jurisdiction of the DAS of Totonicapán and Quiché. |
