Nearly 50% children malnourished in Eastern Province

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 February 2011, 04:12 GMT]
Nearly half of the children less than five years old are suffering from malnutrition in the three districts in the Eastern province. 53% in Batticaloa, 45% in Trincomalee, and 44% in Ampaarai have been found suffering malnutrition, according to a survey carried out by the World Food Organization (WFO), UNICEF, and Health Services Agency of the United Nations, NGO sources in the eastern province said.

Parents say that the programme under which UNICEF supplied milk to overcome malnutrition among school children in the Batticaloa district was stopped from January this year.

About 89,000 widows who lost their husbands in war, abduction, and natural disaster are identified in the North and Eastern Province according to a survey carried out by the Provincial Women Welfare Ministry.

However, Deputy Minister for Women Affairs and Child Security, Mr.M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, claimed that Rs. 950m has been allocated for the distribution of milk to students in schools in all the districts in the island three times a week.

Children in upcountry areas are also suffering from malnutrition as their poorly paid parents find it difficult to provide nutritious food due to lack of funds.