Malnutrition in the OIC Member
Countries: A Trap for Poverty
The health sector, which is key for implementing many of the critical nutrition-specific and
nutrition-sensitive policies, is struggling with structural weaknesses. The health system
considerably suffered after the demise of the Soviet Union. Basic health infrastructures
suffered and the system is geared towards centralised, curative, facility-based healthcare. A
shift towards community-based care (especially of severe acute malnutrition), preventive care
and community mobilisation is necessary (Rabie et al. 2012). For further progress on
malnutrition to happen, it will also be required to reduce the high diarrhoea prevalence among
children and the high malaria prevalence that still prevails, especially in the border regions
with Afghanistan. Increasing access to quality healthcare will also help in fostering nutrition-
specific interventions, notably promotion and improvement of breastfeeding practices and
complementary feeding practices.
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