Karachi
February 23, 2021
Researchers at the Aga Khan University are harnessing the power of stem cells to create mini-intestines that can generate new insights into how malnutrition occurs.
Malnutrition is a major public health problem in the developing world, with four out of ten children under the age of five in Pakistan suffering from stunting while one in three children is underweight, according to the National Nutrition Survey 2018.
An unhygienic environment, contaminated water, inadequate diet and poor maternal health during pregnancy are some of the major factors leading to environmental enteropathy or EE. EE is an important, but poorly understood, intermediary condition, which is characterised by inflammation of the gut, that leads to chronic malnutrition.
KSrelief signs $40m deal with WFP to prevent famine and malnutrition in Yemen February 23, 2021
RIYADH The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) signed on Tuesday a joint cooperation agreement with the World Food Program (WFP) to improve food security for the most affected families in some areas of Yemen. This agreement will benefit 2,333,333 individuals at a cost of $40 million to prevent famine and malnutrition.
The agreement was signed by adviser to the Royal Court and Supervisor General of KSrelief Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah and Executive Director of the WFP David Beasley.
The agreement aims to meet the priorities of food security and nutritional needs in accordance with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Report (IPC) for the food insecurity analysis in Yemen, to benefit the following governorates: Abyan, Al Hodeidah, Amran, Al Bayda, Dhale, Marib, Shabwah, Taiz, Al Mahrah, Socotra, Hadramouth,
Representational Image Alokita Jha
How a visit to an Angawadi centre transformed Anita Suresh Pawar’s life
Nagapur is a remote village in Kannad Taluka, Aurangabad. Although Nagapur is not far from the taluka, it is difficult to reach through dense Gautala Sanctuary via poor roads.
During the Monsoons, the situation is much worse’, said Anita Suresh Pawar who belongs to the Bhil tribal community in the village
She says ‘Now a happy family, we ve been in a delicate situation a few days back. I had become pregnant for the second time when my eldest son was just four years old. But as they say we all are connected and there’s a little we can achieve without the help and talent of others. And thus when Sangeeta Kale, a very supportive and sympathetic Anganwadi Tai of our village, found out about my pregnancy during a home visit, she helped me register with the Anganwadi Service. I was called in for routine maternity check-ups.’
AKU researchers harness stem cells to study malnutrition
Study with US varsity to probe interlink with Covid-19
KARACHI:
Researchers at Aga Khan University are harnessing the power of stem cells to generate new insight into how malnutrition occurs. The 2018 National Nutrition Survey says malnutrition is a major public health problem in the developing world, with four out of ten children under the age of five in Pakistan suffering from stunting while one in three children is underweight.
An AKU statement pertaining to the research says an unhygienic environment, contaminated water, inadequate diet and poor maternal health during pregnancy are some of the major factors leading to environmental enteropathy or EE. This is a poorly understood, intermediary condition, characterised by inflammation of the gut that leads to chronic malnutrition.
Worrying signs: Global hunger is rising again
South Asia has the largest food-insecure population globally - Sudershan V×
Even before Covid-19, the world was no longer on track to meet the SDG of eliminating hunger by 2030. Matters have got much worse since then
The world has been preoccupied with the Covid-19 pandemic, and this has also affected policymakers everywhere. There is much more recognition today of the terrible effects of underfunding public health over decades and how this affects the resilience of economies and societies.
Yet this official preoccupation with addressing the spread of infectious disease appears to have had an unanticipated negative effect: less policy attention to concerns of food security and hunger. Poor nutrition is a major underlying factor affecting overall health conditions as well as resistance to disease, yet politicians and global leaders seem to have taken their eyes off that particular ball.