Nutrition package for pregnant mothers
 

BY UDITHA Kumarasinghe

THE Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Ministry plans to provide a Rs.500 worth special nutrition package to pregnant mothers of all Samurdhi beneficiary families and other low income families free of charge from March.

The Ministry will give this special monthly food package to pregnant mothers for 18 months - six months before birth and 12 months after birth.

Only endemic cereals will be utilised for this nutrition package, Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told the Daily News yesterday.

Rs. 5.4 million will be spent to implement this project. The Ministry will also seek Health Ministry advice to implement this nutrition programme, she said.

A recent survey has revealed that nearly one forth of the country's population have faced severe economic hardships and pregnant mothers of such poverty stricken families have faced acute malnutrition, the Minister said.

Having considered this, the Ministry in line with the Mahinda Chintana has decided to implement a special nutrition programme to uplift the nutrition level of pregnant mothers of these poverty stricken families, she said.

This nutrition programme will be implemented as a pilot project in eight Divisional Secretariat divisions under the purview of four districts. The programme will be implemented with the assistance of Samurdhi Development Officers and Family Health Officers, the Minister said.

Wanniarachchi said initially the nutrition programme will be implemented in Suriyawewa and Katuwana (Hambantota district), Siyabalanduwa and Madulla (Moneragala district), Kalpitiya and Mundalama (Puttalam district) and Ridimaliyadda and Meegahakivula (Badulla district).

The Minister will also discuss with the major non-Governmental Organisations in Sri Lanka to make this project further success.