Your Excellency, Dr Phankham Viphavanh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Sports; Fellow representatives of international agencies; Esteemed government officials from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education and Sports; Distinguished guests and colleagues; Ladies and gentlemen:
It is an honour for me to address you, on behalf of the World Health Organization, and to welcome you to this very important workshop on the National School Health Promotion programme with a focus on nutrition, healthy diets, water, sanitation and hygiene, deworming and food safety.
The topics discussed today will set the key priorities for school health promotion in the country, and will determine the next steps and way forward. The activities will also contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals 1, 2 and 4 and the post-MDG goal of exiting from the status of least developed countries by 2020.
As we know, good nutrition is vital for good health, specifically, for healthy growth, for disease prevention and for the mental development of young children and adolescents. Undernutrition can be serious in children, as it interferes with their growth and development and predisposes them to health problems such as infection and chronic diseases. Undernutrition accounts for about 11% of the global burden of disease, and contributes to about one third of all child deaths globally.
In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, stunting affects 44.2% of children under age 5. Stunting refers to having low height-for-age compared to WHO child growth standards, and is a key indicator of chronic undernutrition among infants and young children.
Another indicator, wasting, refers to low weight-for-height. This symptom of acute undernutrition results from insufficient food intake, and is compounded by a high incidence of infectious diseases, especially diarrhoea. The prevalence of underweight children under age 5 in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic stands at 26.6%.
Other micronutrient deficiencies, like anaemia caused by insufficient intake of iron in children from 6 to 59 months, are at 48.2%. These high numbers should raise a red flag for the Lao Government, as under nutrition could become a serious public health problem if no intervention is introduced right now.
Other factors, like water, sanitation and hygiene, also play a fundamental role in nutritional outcomes. WHO estimates that 50% of malnutrition is associated with repeated diarrhoea or intestinal worm infections as a result of unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene. Diarrhoea is a leading cause of death in children under age 5 globally and is also seen here in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Parasitic infections, such as soil-transmitted helminths (worms), are caused by poor sanitation and hygiene. They infect around 2 billion people globally, and an estimated 4.5 billion people are at risk of infection. Such infections can lead to anaemia and reduced physical and cognitive development.
Since 2011, WHO has provided deworming, weekly iron supplements and vitamin A to infants, young children, adolescents and women of childbearing age through a joint United Nations maternal, neonatal and child health programne funded by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. These low-cost interventions have proven effective in addressing some basic nutrition issues.
WHO remains committed to working with partners and donors to support the Government in achieving better nutritional status for the children and youth of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
This journey of 1000 miles begins with a small step; and in this case, through the activities of the National School Health Promotion. I wish you success in this workshop.
Thank you.