IMPROVING HEALTH AND NUTRITION STATUS
AIM
While people’s health status in Tigray is generally improving, under nutrition remains a lingering public health problem whose impacts are severe and long lasting: stunted growth, inability to resist infections, recover from disease or learn and undertake physical work, and lost productivity, and persistent poverty.
CHALLENGE
According to the 2016 EDHS some 39 percent of children in Tigray are stunted and 24 percent are underweight, while 40 percent of women and 47 percent of men are chronically malnourished. These alarming statistics are some of the worst in the country, and are symptomatic of the lack of physical, economic and social access to food, of which cyclical drought, crop failures and poverty, are main causes. Reversing these debilitating trends is our goal.
ACTION
As a major actor in health programming in Tigray, we centre our attention on activities in which we enjoy a comparative advantage. Grassroots focused, we seek to create better access to preventative and basic health services among women, children (0 -24 months) and poor communities in general.
In partnership with the Tigray Health Bureau and communities, the REST Health Department implemented a variety of health and nutrition activities in 38 waredas.
