Nutrition Security for Mother and Child in Rural Areas in Tajikistan

Overall project value

• Improving Maternal, Infant and Child Nutrition in Rural Tajikistan (Khatlon).

Project description

Undernutrition in Tajikistan According to the 2017 DHS, 18% of under-five children suffer from stunting, an irreversible result of chronic nutritional deprivation. More than 8% of children in Tajikistan are underweight and 6% are wasted.

The objective of the project is to improve the nutritional situation of reproductive women, infants and small children in the Khatlon region in southern Tajikistan.

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) as lead executing agency provides the policy and strategic direction for the implementation of the Project.

The project comprises two fields of action:

1. The improvement of nutrition-relevant health services and
2. The strengthening of multi sectoral cooperation

The field of action 1 is divided into two areas: (a) working with state health institutions and training institutions; and (b) working with the healthcare providers in the selected municipalities.

Scope of work

The project collaborates with the national institutions like PGMI (Post-Graduate Medical University) and Republican Clinical Training Centre for Nurses (RCTCN) on development of training modules on nutrition and training of practitioners (In-service Training).

m4h is providing capacity support to these National Institutions in the revision of in-service training for nursing staff in collaboration with a technical workgroup comprised of high-level experts from the various teaching institutions of the country.

Additionally, m4h supports Health Facilities in integrating nutrition-specific interventions such as counselling on infant and young child feeding (IYCF), optimal dietary habits and the provision of micronutrient supplements and specialized food products to address the immediate (direct) causes of malnutrition.

The project supports and ensures high-quality training module for Health Care Workers (HCW). The team has carried out a knowledge and skills gaps analysis of the HCW at facilities to ensure that the training modules are tailored to actual needs of the HCW.  It provides guidance on planning the integration of nutrition services into routine facility-based health care and community-based services.

Lastly, m4h cooperated with the Aga-Khan-Foundation, which was responsible for compiling qualitative and quantitative information and formative behaviour studies to provide evidence-based information for setting targets, planning, designing appropriate Behavioural Change Communication interventions on Nutrition to address effectively and sustainably the root causes of malnutrition.

Results

The results achieved by m4h can be grouped into three different areas:

• On the level of in-service education, m4h successfully
  1. supported the TWG in elaborating a training manual for nutrition education. This work also included a study-tour to Kyrgyzstan.
  2. m4h further, in collaboration with the MoHSPP created a nutrition module in line with international standards to guide nutrition education in Tajikistan.
  3. m4h is setting up an eLearning platform which can be accessed by both, medical students and already educated medical professionals in order to increase their knowledge on right nutritious practices. m4h conducted computer literacy courses to enable the PHC staff to access the eLearning platform.

2. In improving quality of nutrition services, m4h supported 20 Primary Healthcare Facilities in the target districts in conducting a number of nutrition trainings, including training for the early diagnosis and treatment of moderate and severe malnutrition, counselling on the optimal use of locally available food to improve nutritional status and prevention of severe malnutrition, providing supplementary food products and monitoring health and nutritional status.
3. m4h further strengthened the multisectoral cooperation and streamlining of activities through constant liaison with all involved stakeholders. m4h consortium partner IntraHealth is implementing the USAID-funded “Feed the Future” programme in a different region of the Khatlon oblast, which underlines the achieved synergies between different developmental initiatives.