KABUL - The Ministry of Public Health and the World Food Programme (WFP) have jointly launched a nationwide awareness-creating campaign about enriched food, an official said on Tuesday.
Dr. Bashir Noormal, Afghan Public Health Institute (APHI) director general, told a meeting here that the campaign was aimed at warning people about negative consequences of malnutrition.
Afghanistan ranked top globally in malnutrition of children, a major challenge to the health of children and women in Afghanistan, he said.
Short stature, underweight, anemia and physical weakness were symptoms and outcome of malnutrition, he added.
To alleviate malnourishment, the MoPH-WFP joint programme was launched to add micronutrients to edible salt, ghee and flour produced in Afghanistan, Dr. Noormal explained.
He said iodine would be added to salt, vitamins A and D to ghee and wheat flour would be enriched by adding Vitamin B12, Zinc and Folic acid.
He said the campaign was aimed at increasing public awareness about importance of enriched food. The campaign would last seven months after its advertisement in the media.
The MoPH in a statement said more than one-third of child deaths under the age of five in the world resulted from malnutrition and in Afghanistan, one in four women and one in four children suffered from iron deficiency due to malnutrition. (Pajhwok)