Improving nutrition means new priorities

The nutritional situation in RoC was still showing progressive improvement (except for refugee populations in the north), with the closure of almost all therapeutic centres and the emphasis on interventions switching to training of health personnel on nutrition issues and provision of nutritional surveillance kits, OCHA’s July update stated. A key characteristic of the period was that WFP had stopped its regular food distribution since June due to stock shortages. In July, the agency re-opened its delegation in the country; since 1996, it only had a sub-office in Brazzaville and depended on the support of the Kinshasa delegation. A key problem in the health sector was “an enormous lack of medicines everywhere”, while reported cases of shigella (a cholera-like disease) within the refugee populations in the north and scabies in the south were being closely monitored by health agencies, OCHA reported. Meanwhile, FAO is preparing for the main crop season in September, with a grant of $473,000 from the US expected to allow it provide seeds and tools to approximately 20,000 beneficiaries. CRS is also to provide seeds to between 7,000 and 8,000 beneficiaries in the Niari region.