Kavango East Region has so far recorded 15 mortalities due to malnutrition.

This was shared during an engagement meeting between the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Gender Equality Social Development and Family Affairs, the Health Directorate, and stakeholders at Rundu. 

The malnutrition cases in the Kavango East Region were at their peak last year, with 2,716 people affected and 30 deaths recorded.

This year, 15 mortalities were recorded, with about 14,000 people affected by malnutrition. 

Kavango East Health Director Idah Mendai says cases of malnutrition are a result of inconsistency in therapeutic food supply as well as lack of refresher training for the health care workers and community care workers on management of malnutrition.

The director added that the most concerning contributing factor is a lack of malnutrition education for young mothers. 

"I think as a region what we are seeing is a trend where we see a lot of our older parents, grandmothers of these teenage young people who give birth and then they leave these children under the care of an older person, and when it comes to care it becomes a challenge, then they go in these phases of malnutrition and so on, and this is really one thing that we are advocating for with other stakeholders in the region to insure that we really raise awareness alongside our community to ensure that these young mothers are educated on how to take care of these young ones."

HIV patients and pregnant women are among those affected by malnutrition. 

The director informed the team that the region has enough therapeutic food at the moment. 

Mendai added that to mitigate malnutrition, community awareness should be a must.

Parliamentary Committee Chairperson for Family Affairs, Dr. Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, says, "Reduction of poverty; poverty should not be the face of Namibia, and most of these things are symptoms of poverty, and also climate change is behind us and so many, but we have to plan; we need to get at least some water to the people; please boreholes as much as possible."

Dr. Ndjoze-Ojo says the data collected will be tabled in parliament for further deliberation.