Cases of malnutrition in Harare have risen by over 150 percent with the city’s acting epidemiologist Dr Michael Vere advising residents to show up for malnutrition counselling programmes offered at the Council Poly Clinics and in the communities.
Of those affected 95 percent are children below the age of 5 years while the above 5 years age group accounts for the remainder.
Dr Vere said the Health Services Department has been working on malnutrition cases using screening programmes conducted at the Council Poly Clinics and in the community.
“We have been performing malnutrition counselling where we teach people how to prepare an adequately balanced meal” said Dr Vere.
“We are also doing malnutrition rehabilitation in our clinics, this is mainly done to those with severe acute malnutrition where we provide fortified foods or ready to use therapeutic foods that are available in 20 of our clinics”.
Residents are also given nutritional guidance which are very important as it enables people to grow crops that allow them to prepare nutritional meals.
