16 Sep 2010

LAOS / MALNUTRITION

UNICEF and partners join forces with the Ministry of Health in Lao PDR to address worrying levels of malnutrition among children living in remote areas of the country. UNICEF

Posted at: September 16, 2010 3:36 pm

Duration: 02:50

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: LAOS / MALNUTRITION 
TRT: 2:50
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: LAO / NATS
 
DATELINE: MAY/JUNE 2010, LAOS
 
SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, survey team crosses rivers and mountains to gain access to remote villages in order to conduct a nutritional assessment
2. Wide shot, women in the village of Sarvane, Laos
3. Wide shot, group of women and children in the village of Sarvane
4. Tilt down, woman receiving  height and measurements
5. Close up, little girl's being measured
6. Close up, child's finger getting pricked for blood sample
7. SOUNDBITE (Lao) Dr. Dalaphone Sithideth, survey team doctor:
"We have found some extremely high levels of malnutrition among children. Their haemoglobin levels are also significantly below average. The three Southern Provinces of Attapeu, Savannakhet and Sekong produced some of the most critical results."
8. Med shot, one child turning and looking into distance
9. Med shot, three young children huddled together in a hut
10. Med shot, Phom walking through the village
11. SOUNDBITE (Lao) Phom, villager:
"My rice field was flooded and my crops died. The floods lasted for a long time and I am too poor to buy food."
12. Med shot, young child
13. Close up, children sitting in a dusty road
14. SOUNDBITE (Lao) Kinnalone Chandavang, teams doctor:  
"We need to respond to these issues, from both the health
and agriculture side. We need to develop ways of improving the skills and livelihoods of the villagers so they will be equipped for future eventualities."
15. Wide shot, children sitting in a hut on dusty ground
16. Wide shot, survey team doctor assessing a family and recording information about their household nutrition
17. Close up, hand writing with pencil on clip board
18. Wide shot, survey team doctor assessing a family and recording information about their household nutrition
19. Med shot, childs listening
20. Med shot, mother and child being screened for signs of malnutrition
21. Med shot, little boy eating in the village of Sarvane.
22. Wide shot, two women talking, while one of the women breastfeeds her baby
23. Med shot, two boys looking into the camera smiling
24. Med shot, mother with children on ground
25. Close up, girl eating leaf
26. Med shot, boy sleeping in homemade hammock

STORYLINE:

Travelling for days over mountains and rivers was all in a day's work for these researchers, one of 15 teams who conducted a nutritional assessment across flood and typhoon affected areas of rural Laos.

Saravane was one of nine affected provinces covered by the survey. The team recorded the height and weight of women and children in order to assess the severity of malnutrition. These measurements, along with blood tests, produced some worrying results.

SOUNDBITE (Lao) Dr. Dalaphone Sithideth, survey team doctor:
"We have found some extremely high levels of malnutrition among children. Their haemoglobin levels are also significantly below average. The three Southern Provinces of Attapeu, Savannakhet and Sekong produced some of the most critical results."

Poverty and underdevelopment made the south particularly vulnerable to the effects of the natural disasters that struck in 2008 and 2009, as villagers like Phom discovered to their cost.

SOUNDBITE (Lao) Phom, villager:
"My rice field was flooded and my crops died. The floods lasted for a long time and I am too poor to buy food."

The assessment showed that children's health was particularly badly affected by the loss of farmland. The limited availability of health services made the situation even worse.

SOUNDBITE (Lao) Kinnalone Chandavang, team doctor:  
"We need to respond to these issues, from both the health and agriculture side. We need to develop ways of improving the skills and livelihoods of the villagers so they will be equipped for future eventualities."

In response to the situation, the government, UNICEF and other partners have devised a twelve month strategy of urgent interventions. These include the despatch of therapeutic feeding kits along with training for health staff who will carry out a screening of the most severely malnourished children.

For its part, UNICEF will accelerate the distribution of micro-nutrient powder and zinc supplements for young children. An ongoing campaign to encourage exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and to tackle some of the inappropriate feeding practices found in these areas will also be stepped up.

Through joining forces with government and other organizations UNICEF aims to bring about a rapid improvement to the critical nutritional problems facing the children of rural Laos.