Opening Remarks - Delivered by Dr Stephan Paul Jost, WHO Representative to Myanmar
4 August 2019 | Taunggyi
Mingalaba, Good morning,
Your Excellency Dr. Myint Htwe the Union Minister for Ministry of Health and Sports,
Honourable Dr. Lin Htut Chief Minister of Shan State Government, Dr. Myo Htun Minister for Ministry of Social Affairs Shan State Government, Ms June Kunugi UNICEF Representative to Myanmar, Dr. Thar Tun Kyaw Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Sports, distinguished officials from various government departments, representatives from regional, district and township authorities and health staff, colleagues from various UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and the media,
It gives me great pleasure to make some remarks at today’s occasion for launching nutrition promotion month for 2019.
Ladies and Gentlemen –
The Nutrition month is celebrated globally to signify the importance of nutrition for human life and development. This whole month is concentrated with diverse activities to highlight and promote nutrition. The Ministry of Health and Sports with all its partners and stakeholder has declared the slogan "Invest in Nutrition: Join hands in building the Nation." to underpin the importance of Nutrition for a Healthy Nation.
This era of the Sustainable Development Goals emphasis very high on addressing malnutrition. The SDG 2 is dedicated to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”; thus, ending malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Addressing nutrition not only helps to achieve goal 2 but strongly linked to nearly 12 SGD goals out of 17.
The UN General Assembly in 2016 declared 2016–2025 as the Nutrition Decade, to provide all stakeholders with a time-bound opportunity to strengthen joint efforts and achieve a healthier and more sustainable future. Therefore, investing in nutrition promotion prevails as a powerful instrument to build a productive and prosperous Nation.
The first week of August every year is declared as the World Breastfeeding week and it commemorates Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990. It reiterates commitments from government policymakers, WHO, UNICEF and other organizations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
WHO recommends starting breastfeeding within one hour of birth and continue exclusive breastfeeding until a baby completes its six months of age. Nutritious complementary food should then be added gradually while continuing breastfeeding up to two years or beyond.
Breastfeeding helps to prevent malnutrition in all its forms, ensures food security for infants and young children, and thus helps to bring people and nations out of the hunger and poverty cycle. In addition, breastfeeding helps mothers to space children and increases their health and well-being by reducing the risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer.
The slogan of Breastfeeding week this year is "Empower parents, enable breastfeeding: Now and for the future!”. The value of breastmilk has been constantly threatened by the industries that promote breastmilk substitutes irrationally. Thus, both parents and family members need to be empowered to make the crucial decision and to give their new-borns the best start possible by committing to breastfeeding.
Further, the government and policymakers should ensure that the International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes, as well as several World Health Assembly resolutions and decisions, are fully implement with legislation. And the system for close monitoring and effective enforcement should be strengthen aimed at protecting breastfeeding from these commercial interests.
Workplace pressures are a leading motive for early termination of breastfeeding, among working mothers. For example, the implementation of paid maternity leave for at least six months would be a gamechanger, as would be paid paternity leave.
This is especially so in the informal sector. Further, provision of access to quality childcare services, breastfeeding breaks and dedicated nursing spaces will ensure a conducive environment to continue breastfeeding for working mother.
Ladies and Gentlemen –
Infancy is a nutritionally vulnerable period. Establishing adequate complementary feeding is a highly challenging one. Mothers and the immediate caregivers of infants need guidance and support to learn this dynamic responsive feeding behaviour.
Establishing adequate feeding during this window period is crucial to achieving optimum development potential of every child. Optimal nutrition not only fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development but also reduces the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life.
Nutrition promotion among school children is equally important. Malnutrition during this period of growth spurt exerts a negative impact on cognitive development, school performance, and overall productivity.
Myanmar is reporting very high rates of anaemia among school children and its even high among the adolescent age group. Efforts focusing on improving the diversity of food consumed should be strengthened.
Promoting quality and safety of the food during the childhood and adolescent leaves a lifelong behavioural trait. School children should be provided with healthy options of food and guided to make healthier chose in their young ages.
If unhealthy habits are ignored, those habits and feeding behaviours become very hard to change in later life. Selecting healthy food that is low in sugar, low in salt and avoiding unhealthy oils should be promoted. Skills to make use of the food labels should be cultivated among this young age group.
The Nutrition month is promoting awareness on the elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorder and food fortification during the last week of the month. This is to highlights the significances of food fortification with essential nutrients to address the micronutrient deficiency in the common diet.
At present Iodine is fortified nationwide and there are the voluntary fortifications of Iron, folic acid and Vitamin A in some states/regions. The nutrition month activities will help to create demand among communities for food that are fortified and attract industries to invest in fortified food production.
Ladies and Gentlemen –
Globalization of food systems, urbanization, and economic growth have resulted in dietary and lifestyle transitions in South-East Asia, fuelling a double burden of malnutrition. The consumption of pre-packaged, processed or ultra-processed foods high in fat, sugars, and salt is increasing significantly.
As a result, the diet-related Noncommunicable Diseases risk is rapidly increasing. Policy changes and political commitments are imperative to prevent the public from increasing consumption of processed foods that are high in fat, sugars, and salt, and to prevent NCDs at large. WHO had taken lead in technically advocating parliamentarians on the harm of consuming Tobacco, Alcohol and Sugar and Sugary Beverages and closely assisting them in deliberate increasing taxation on these products.
WHO continues to advocate and support a holistic approach on nutrition and encourages all stakeholders to consider all forms of malnutrition outcome; undernutrition, overweight, obesity and diet-related NCDs risk and address them collectively.
Malnutrition is a cross-cutting issue and it needs support from multiple sectors. Recognizing this need, the Ministry of Health and Sports in collaboration with all related sectors education, agriculture, fisheries, social welfare and support, civil society and the media had initiated a multi-sectoral Workplan to address nutrition promotion.
WHO continued its technical support towards the development of the Multi-Sectoral National Plan of Action for Nutrition MS-NPAN (2018-2023), together with other UN agencies, development partners and government departments. WHO had constructively contributed to the successful sub-national workshop conducted in Ayeyarwaddy State/Region last month to roll out the MS-NPAN at the state/regional level.
The Myanmar Micronutrient and Food Consumption Survey was the first of its kind to capture nutrition status and the food consumption patterns at state/regional level in Myanmar. It adds strength to guide evidence-based intervention at national and state/regional level and helps to monitor progress.
WHO had substantially supported this effort and we would like to encourage all partners to make maximum use of this resource in their endeavours.
Ladies and Gentlemen –
This year nutrition promotion month celebration is very promising, and we are indeed happy to note that it has now been conducted for successive years continuously, since 2003.
We understand that these activities are taking place not only at central but also at state-regional, township and community levels. Sustaining these interventions will be the key and it will necessitate effective national support and international participation.
In conclusion, we would like to reaffirm that WHO would continue to stand ready to support activities for world breastfeeding week and nutrition promotion month that focuses on holistically addressing the burden of malnutrition.
We hope that this nutrition month celebration will underpin the efforts by national and local communities, health staff and key stakeholders in their joint endeavour towards better nutrition and health for the people of Myanmar.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Kyae Zuu tin bar de khin pyar!