Vision
The vision for Swaziland National Nutrition Council is to achieve optimum nutrition, health status and food security of the Swazi nation by 2022.
Mission Statement
To improve the nutrition and health status of the nation for all vulnerable groups at all levels of society by providing effective, comprehensive, decentralized, coordinated, sustainable and enabling environment for the provision of food and nutrition services in Swaziland.
OBJECTIVES
- To reduce morbidity and mortality due to nutrition related conditions
- To increase awareness among decision makers and for advocacy on nutrition issues
- To implement, monitor and evaluate all nutrition interventions
The Nutrition Programmes are:
1. Infant and Young Child Feeeding
2. Integrated Community based Growth Monitoring and promotion,
3. Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition in Children and Adults
4. Nutrition & HIV,
5. Prevention and Control of Micronutrients deficiencies and
6. Nutrition Surveillance
The Swaziland National Nutrition Council manages to achieve its objectives through the implementation of Nutrition programmes that are implemented within the Ministry of Health in collaboration with stakeholders.
Key partners are as follows:
- Action Against Hunger: they provide technical support to the Swaziland National Nutrition Council abd further provide support in mentoring health care workers and mobilising and sensitizing communities on the nutrition and the early identification and treatment of acute malnutrition.
- Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI): procures the therapeutic food (Plumpynut) and provides technical support in forecasting of therapeutic products for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in children in the existing therapeutic feeding sites.
- Swaziland Infant Nutrition Action Network (SINAN): is a non-governmental organization that is mandated to carry out the Infant and Young Child Feeding issues in the country. Close working relationships exist with the institution for purposes of efficiently harmonizing infant feeding messages as they evolve frequently.
- UNICEF: provides technical and financial and commodity support in all the nutrition programmes related to children
- WFP: provides technical and financial support in the Nutrition and HIV programme
- WHO: provides technical and financial support in nutrition programmes
Achievements of the Nutrition Programme:
- 32 Tinkhundla have been trained and are providing growth monitoring and promotion services
- Six Inpatient and 26 outpatient therapeutic feeding sites for the treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition are operational.
- Malnutrition Baseline survey in patients initiating ART and TB treatment conducted
- An evaluation of the Integrated Community Based Growth Monitoring was conducted
- Protocols for the implementation of Food by Prescription in 11 Health facilities are in place whereby malnourished patients on ART and TB will be treated.
- National and Regional Micronutrient Awareness campaigns conducted
- Advocacy on Nutrition programmes carried out in the Swaziland Trade Fair, World Health Day and Ministry of Health Job Fair
- Partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture to implement household fod and nutrition security programme
Programme Manager Dansile Vilakati
Tel: +268 2404 3852