Success Story

Ali Nawaz, a poor farmer, brought his 12-month-old toddler, Shahida to the OTP site at MCHC Dera, District Kamber Shahdadkot, operating under the European Union in Pakistan - funded Programme for Improved Nutrition in Sindh (EU-PINS).

Shahida is the youngest among five siblings. Her nutritional needs couldn't be met by her poor parents who could barely keep up with dietary needs of the entire family. Her father was unsure of how to take care of Shahida since he was not educated at all and was not aware of severe malnutrition in children. Shahida's weight on admission was measured to be 4.5 kg and MUAC, 8.5 cm. As a corollary, developmental milestones for children of her age seemed to elude her. Though, she was introduced to complementary feeding including eggs, dairy products and roots/grains started at the age of eight months, but her nutritional deficiencies could not be addressed through those food groups alone.

After she was admitted to the PPHI Sindh managed OTP facility at MCHC Dera, her anthropometric scores started improving with every single visit. About eight visits later, she was found to be fit enough to be discharged from the facility. Her weight on discharge was 6.9 kg and MUAC was recorded at 12.6cm. There was visible improvement all aspects of her development.

Before discharge, her parents were counselled on how to ensure that Shahida does not regress into malnutrition again, and dietary and hygiene practices to be followed strictly.

District Kamber Shahdkot suffers from chronic food insecurity and frequent natural disasters like floods. This exacerbates the problem of malnutrition in Sindh, generally, and in Kamber Shahdkot, specifically. To overcome this, the EU-PINS continues to provide screening, supplementation, and treatment services to severely wasted children irrespective of the difficulties posed by Covid-19 situation and the resultant lockdowns.