Vientiane, April 8, 2009- A four day National Nutrition Policy Dissemination workshop started on Wednesday in Vientiane. Key government decision makers and technicians are gathered together for four days to improve the draft National Nutrition documents (Strategy and Plan of Action) through discussion and inputs.

More than 200 participants from line ministries, mass organizations as well as embassies, other development partners, the UN, and INGOs have been invited to the ICTC center to discuss nutrition and its importance for development in Lao PDR.

A number of sectors need to come together for us to truly be able to change the situation, was the message of  HE Somsavath Langsavad in the opening speech of the four day workshop.

The National Nutrition Policy was endorsed in December last year. The Policy has been seen as an important first step towards ensuring that nutrition will finally be tackled in a broad way, in the plans and strategies of fifteen involved ministries and equivalent institutions.

The situation in the country is alarming, with 40 percent of children under five years continuing to be affected by chronic malnutrition. In rural areas, every second child is stunted i.e. too short for their age or chronically malnourished. Chronic malnourishment denies the children their right to reach their full mental and physical potential. For those who survive to grow to adulthood, contribution to society will be limited. These children are less likely to have adequate retention of their education, more likely to be ill due to low immunity, less productive and will generally earn lower incomes than their well nourished peers.

Many also suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, approximately 41 percent of children under five years suffer from anemia. Iron supplements only reach a limited number of women and often pregnant women suffer from anemia and follow post partum food taboos that lead to low birth weight and means they have lower quality milk after labor.

The four day workshop aims at raising awareness among the participants on the alarming nutrition situation and context in Lao PDR.

The workshop also introduces and explains the National Nutrition Policy and how sectors from health and education to agriculture and investment have committed themselves to ensuring that the nutritional situation in the country will change. The international cooperation, including the UN family, the banks, bilateral cooperation and several INGOs are also dedicated to supporting the country in its efforts to change the situation through various projects and programmes. The Food Safety Policy as well as the Strategic Framework for Integrated Maternal and Neonatal Child Health services will also be launched during the workshop as important parts of the ongoing nutrition work in the country.

During the last three days of the workshop the participants will work on the National Nutrition Strategy and the National Plan of Action on Nutrition that will be more specific documents, based on the Policy, that guide nutrition efforts in each ministry and equivalent institution.

The four day workshop will be repeated for the southern and northern provinces - in Oudomxay first week of May and in Champasak the last week of May.