Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government launched yesterday a nationwide multi-sectoral nutrition information system, targeting to strengthen analysis of existing data and provide decision-makers with evidence-based drivers of malnutrition in the country.
Dr Dorothy Mwaluko, Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office said after the launch of the system that data on nutrition information was of profound importance to socioeconomic growth that must not be underestimated.
“We want actual data, which reflects the reality on the ground,” she said, cautioning against cooked figures that could mislead people.
The PS said authorities responsible must be open to all data regardless of positive or negative that could be used in decision-making processes.
In that regard, she said the national nutrition centre must ensure the platform involved all key stakeholders.
The launch of the platform included nine ministries, but the PS said more stakeholders had been left out of the platform. “I urge you to explore exiting stakeholders,” she said.
She said she believed that data, which would be published in the platform, would help the government and other interested parties plan ahead and set strategies for the benefit of the entire nation.
She proposed, however, the platform to be accessible, emphasising that if there were restrictions to data access “the platform will lose its meaning.”
Director of Preventive Services in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Leonard Subi, speaking on behalf of the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Prof Mabula Mchembe, said the ministry would continue supporting the production of scientific data collected from across the country.
He said the ministry would support the production of timely data especially that, which targeted key populations, including infants, expectant mothers and children.
“The ministry is currently working on a new health policy in line with the ministry’s strategic plan. This platform will help establish sustainable and comprehensive information needed,” he said.
According to the director, the system will also help the ministry in its periodic review of performance in tackling malnutrition in both children and adults.
“Adults are increasingly facing non-communicable diseases which increase health burden,” he said.
He appealed for appropriate use of official statistics in the government.
Although Tanzania has made some good progress in addressing undernutrition in children, the pace of improvement, especially in stunted children has been slow, with data showing that the prevalence of stunting dropped from about 50 per cent in 1992 to about 34 per cent in the 2015/16 fiscal year.
The current level of stunting is categorised as “severe” in terms of its public health significance and is above 30 per cent average observed in Africa.
Moreover, a double burden of malnutrition has emerged where undernutrition exists together with a rapidly increasing problem of diet-related non-communicable diseases, especially overweight, obesity, hypertension and type -2 diabetes that have doubled in adults during the last decade.
