Resume food aid for children

Good start: File photo from January 2020 of pupils at a school in Kuala Lumpur having breakfast before their day begins. — Filepic/The Star

NEW Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s call for unity across the government and political aisles to put the nation’s, or in his own term “Keluarga Malaysia’s”, interest first is most welcomed.

His acknowledgement of the hardships faced by many households and families in Malaysia is also welcomed, as the Covid-19 pandemic and prolonged lockdowns have greatly affected many people, particularly those from the B40 group, for more than a year.

And sadly, many children are at a higher risk of going hungry.

As such, People’s Health Forum (PHF), a platform created in April 2019 by several not-for-profit organisations and individuals who are committed to the principle of “Health for All”, is urging the incoming government to immediately resume the national supplementary food programme for school children to prevent those from poor or struggling families from going hungry.

Before the pandemic, over 500,000 Malaysian students from low-income households were relying on the programme annually.

As more people fall below the poverty line due to both the pandemic and economic downturn caused by the lockdowns, more school children are suffering from hunger and starvation.

In 2019, the Unicef (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) special report titled “Children Without: A study of urban child poverty and deprivation in low-cost flats in Kuala Lumpur” stated that about 22% of children below the age of five are stunted, 15% are underweight and 23% are either overweight or obese.

Covid-19 has further exacerbated food insecurity among low income households, forcing families to adopt less healthy diets and further worsening the country’s child malnutrition crisis.

Now more than ever, it is crucial that initiatives like the supplementary food programme are undertaken to provide much needed supplementary nutrition to students, especially those from the B40 group who depend on the free meals at school.

The government has increased the allocation to RM420mil under Budget 2021, but the spate of extended school closures has cut off access to the programme.

But closure of schools should not affect the distribution of food. After all, food production and delivery are not banned during the lockdowns. Most importantly, hunger does not stop when schools close.

Schools have the necessary network and database to get to the children. The National Plan of Action for Nutrition of Malaysia III, 2016-2025 produced by the Health Ministry also provides strategies and plans to deliver food to those in need.

What we really need now is for the schools to turn these plans into action.

We urge the government to work with public schools at local and district level, parent-teacher groups and other relevant bodies to leverage the existing mechanisms and/or new delivery mechanisms that comply with the necessary standard operating procedures to resume the programme as soon as possible.

The pandemic has heightened food insecurity among poor and vulnerable groups, with considerable impact on children from these households. Restarting the supplementary food programme for school children is a step towards addressing their nutritional needs and protecting them from malnutrition and increased susceptibility to Covid-19 infection and any other health issues in the future.

PEOPLE’S HEALTH FORUM

Kuala Lumpur