New food supplement to counter malnutrition in Somalia
The food supplement, called Plumpy’Doz, is produced by the French company Nutriset. It will be distributed to children aged from six to 36 months and is said to provide additional energy including fats, high-quality protein and all the essential minerals and vitamins.
According to Unicef, the national average prevalence of acute malnutrition in Somalia is 18.6 per cent. Fifteen per cent is considered an emergency threshold level signifying a very critical situation.
“In the face of Somalia’s complex humanitarian situation, using Plumpy’Doz is an innovative way to assist a population at risk and at the same time address the nutrition situation where one in six children is acutely malnourished at any point in time,” said Christian Balslev-Olesen, Unicef’s Somalia representative.
