AFRICA/RWANDA - Interventions against child malnutrition and for the care of pregnant women

Friday, 22 October 2021

Muyanza (Agenzia Fides) - Two years after the end of the project for nutritional and health support for women and children in Muyanza, in the Rulindo district, concluded in 2019, Omar Fiordalisio, cooperating representative in Rwanda of the Fighting Hunger Movement in the World (MLFM ) who promoted it (see Fides, 21/7/2016), is back in action. "Seeing that mothers continue to come to the Center for visits is the greatest satisfaction" reads the note sent to Fides. "The ultrasound machine is a tool that saves lives for pregnant women in Muyanza. These controls allow early identification of risk situations or malnutrition in the child and refer pregnant women to more specialized centers in time, thus avoiding complications that in some cases are fatal In the district, before the introduction of ultrasound, women had to travel at least 30 km to be able to have a prenatal exam. "Many have not even been given one during the nine months of pregnancy. Funded by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the project aims to combat child malnutrition, ensure adequate medical care for new mothers and create agri-food education that can become a true source of development for local farmers in Muyanza.
According to statistics, 52% of children under the age of five in Rwanda suffer from malnutrition, many of them chronic. Untreated or undetected malnutrition alone contributes to more than half of deaths before the age of two. Failure to monitor the situation of pregnant women can entail risks for the mother and the child himself, before, during and after childbirth. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 22/10/2021)


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