PHNOM PENH, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia launched on Friday a Fast Track Roadmap for Improving Nutrition, aiming to ensure that every child, adolescent, and adult have access to the nutrition they need to thrive.
The roadmap, which will last till 2030, is led by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with relevant ministries and supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and development partners.
Cambodian Minister of Health Chheang Ra said the government is committed to improving nutrition for all by establishing a quality nutrition service delivery system and interventions.
"The health system has integrated nutrition services into primary healthcare services, which contributes to promoting optimal nutrition and the best start in life," he said.
Ra said the government is committed to reducing poverty and promoting health, nutrition, and hygiene, especially among the poor and vulnerable.
Over recent years, Cambodia has made significant progress in the lives of its children. Between 2014 and 2021, the rate of stunting among children under 5 declined from 32 percent to 22 percent, said a press release.
However, one in 10 children under 5 continues to suffer from wasting, one of the most life-threatening forms of malnutrition, the press release said.
The roadmap sets a national target of reducing the prevalence of wasting among children under 5 to 5 percent by 2030, while accelerating progress to universal access to quality nutrition interventions during middle childhood and adolescence, for women of reproductive age, and during pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, it said.
Anirban Chatterjee, UNICEF deputy representative to Cambodia, said that by limiting a child's ability to reach their full potential, child wasting has lasting impacts on human capital and national progress.
"This Fast Track Roadmap represents a renewed commitment to eliminating child wasting in Cambodia and improving nutrition for all," he said. ■
