The Office of the Governor in the Omaheke Region announced that malnutrition-related deaths have decreased from 77 last year to 62 this year.
Contrary to popular belief, the region is seeing progress in tackling malnutrition, and efforts are now focused on prevention and further reducing cases.
In a statement released on 21 August, the Governor's Office reported that according to data from the Nutritional Assessment Counselling and Support (NACS) and Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) programsme, 272 new malnutrition cases were recorded out of 5,545 cases during the 2023/2024 financial year, representing 4.9% of cases.
"Of the 318 malnutrition cases under treatment, 114 were successfully treated, accounting for 36%. This marks an improvement in the success rate compared to the previous year," the statement said
They further explained that the default rate is at 19 cases which is 6% of the total number of patients who were absent for two consecutive weighs, which increased from what it was in the previous year.
"Deaths due to malnutrition under the same period were only 4 out of 318 cases which is 1.2% of the total figure and this is seen as a reduction in the number of deaths compared to 13 in the previous year. While malnutrition deaths due to Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition is 58 out of 541 cases reported translating into 11%. The overall figures show a decrease of the number of deaths due to malnutrition and acute malnutritions from 77 in the previous year to 62 in this current financial year," they added.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The Officer further said that during the 2022/2023 statistics showed that 554 new malnutrition cases were recorded which translated into 3.74%. "During this period, 15 malnourished patients were treated successfully translating into 2.7% of the cases recorded, while the default rate was 2 translating into 0.36% of patients who were absent for two consecutive weighings," they added.
They said when it came to deaths due to malnutrition 13 cases were recorded out of the total of 554 new cases and this translated into 2.3% and malnutrition deaths due to Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition is 64 out of 213 cases reported translating into 30% of the total number of cases reported. "The total number of deaths due to malnutrition and acute malnutrition during the 2022/2023 financial year was 77," they stated.
They said they have enlisted the support of partners like HeadStart Kids Global and DSM-Firmenich to expand their efforts towards the aversion of malnutrition in the region. "We are making every effort to ensure that sustainable solutions to malnutrition in the region are sought," they concluded.
