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ANGOLA: More funds needed to help children

JOHANNESBURG, 19 June (IRIN) - The United Nations Children's Fund has launched an appeal for additional funding to help Angola's children, as the true scale of the country's humanitarian tragedy unfolds.

Since the war torn country was "opened up" by a ceasefire in April, early assessments show that at least three million people need help as they struggle to rebuild their lives after decades of upheaval.

Organisations like UNICEF are recording shocking findings: Angola has one of the highest under-5 child mortality rates in the world; 45 percent of the country's children suffer from stunting and at least 750,000 children have lost one or both parents.

At least 70,000 children need urgent supplementary and therapeutic feeding for their very survival, a UNICEF report said. Recent rapid assessments in previously inaccessible areas, notably in Huambo, Bie, Malanje and Huila provinces, reported an average global acute malnutrition rate of 30 percent and an average severe malnutrition rate of 10 percent.

"Recent developments have provided us with access to large populations who have been cut off from humanitarian assistance for years and who are in urgent need of assistance in terms of nutrition and immunisation interventions," UNICEF Angola representative Mario Ferrari said in a statement.

To continue and to expand upon current interventions throughout the country, including the newly accessible and quartering and family areas (QFAs), the organisation needs more funds, he said.

Last week it was reported that the number of troops in the quartering areas had reached over 79,000 and the number of family members with them had reached 230,000 - far more than expected. United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, sent his Special Advisor on Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, to assess what more the UN could do to assist.

UNICEF needs extra funds to provide for more therapeutic milk for severely malnourished children and the establishment of a network of supplementary feeding centres throughout Angola to help moderately malnourished children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. It also wants to expand its immunisation programmes.

It is already supporting the treatment of moderate and severe cases of malnutrition in children and mothers through milk, high-protein biscuits, essential drugs, and equipment for supplementary feeding centres in the country.

A supplementary feeding centre is where malnourished children and their mothers are given food rations to take home but if they are too severely malnourished they are admitted to nutritional rehabilitation units for round the clock care until they have regained their strength.

Support has recently been provided to the Ministry of Health's nutrition rehabilitation unit at the Huambo Provincial Hospital, and to therapeutic and supplementary feeding centres in eight provinces. These centres include four run by the Ministry and other centers run by various NGOs including: Concern, Catholic Relief Services and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

From April to June, UNICEF also provided the World Food Programme (WFP) with 60 mt of high protein biscuits, making up a balanced supplementary feeding ration which benefited over 30,000 malnourished children around the country.

The organisation has also embarked on the provision and administration of measles and polio vaccines, Vitamin A, syringes and equipment for vaccination campaigns.

Measles is one of the leading killers of malnourished Angolan children. While the measles fatality rate in developed countries is 1 in 1,000 cases, in Angola, the measles fatality rate is almost 100 in 1,000 cases.

UNICEF is also gearing up to launch a nation-wide measles campaign targeting 6.8 million Angolan children in the coming months.

From 21 to 23 June, 3.9 million Angolan children are being targeted through a polio immunisation campaign, including children in newly accessible areas and QFAs.

Since the signing of the ceasefire, over 200,000 children have been vaccinated against measles and over two million children have already been vaccinated against polio.

Essential drugs kits to treat the top three leading causes of child mortality in Angola - malaria, diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infections - are also being distributed to 10 provinces with UNICEF support and to all QFAs. This will benefit 250,000 Angolans at the QFAs over the next few months.

An additional 105 essential drugs kits are being distributed to QFAs through the Angolan Armed Forces, and health personnel at all QFAs are also being re-trained in vaccination techniques and the correct use of essential drugs, the statement added.

For more details go to: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/

[ENDS]

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