MUSCAT: The Ministry of Health represented by the Directorate General of Primary Health Care’s Nutrition Department in partnership with the World Health Organization Office in Oman, on Monday held a meeting to discuss operational plan of the National Nutrition Strategy and Work frame 2020-2030 at the Crown Plaza-Muscat.
The meeting was attended by Dr Jean Jabbour, WHO representative in Oman, with the presence of representatives of the concerned Ministries and international organisations.
the National Nutrition Strategy 2020-2030, which is derived from Oman Vision 2040, aim at promoting the work in the Nutrition to achieve food security and eliminate all forms of malnutrition in addition to enhancing nutrition for life by 2030. This is realised by the cooperation of relevant public and private sectors for achieving the fundamental objectives that strengthen the health and nutrition status of community.
The meeting was commenced by an address of WHO representative in Oman where he affirmed that the importance of this meeting represents in developing a national strategy that is under process through identifying detailed activities and implementation mechanisms. It further determines the roles of sectors concerned with the implementing the strategies of the plan and developing a time frame for follow up and evaluation help improving community health status.
The Director of Nutrition Dr Salima al Maamari affirmed in her word that the Sultanate of Oman has made great progress in reducing the prevalence of various forms of undernourishment over the past four decades against the perceived rapid social and economic development. However, the prevalence of some forms of undernourishment remains significantly high, with 11.4 per cent of children under five suffering from stunting (chronic malnutrition) and 9.3 per cent suffering from wasting (acute malnutrition), as per the National Nutrition Survey 2017.
Dr Al Maamari added that like other Eastern Mediterranean Region countries, Oman is experiencing a nutritional transition as other forms of malnutrition, including overweight, obesity and nutrition-related non-communicable diseases (N-NCDs) are becoming increasingly important.
The implementation of the multi-sectoral National Nutrition Strategy serves directly in preventing NCDs.
The meeting emphasises the roles of health-related sectors played in promoting individual health. The participants will be involved in the preparation of the strategy’s operational plan and performance indicators. Roles will be distributed to pave the way towards updating the monitoring and follow up system to achieve best outcomes by Ministries joint agreement on implementation mechanisms.
Oman’s National Nutrition Strategy vision for the next ten years aligns well with the WHO Regional Nutrition Strategy that aims to ensure universal access to healthy and sustainable diets and implement effective nutritional actions, targeting a life-cycle approach to mothers, infants, children, adolescents and the elderly in all settings including emergencies.
The strategy and its framework identified a multi-sectoral approach, across the whole of government and community to address the persistent problems of stunting and wasting as well as the increasing problems of overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases.
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