The Government of Bangladesh recently endorsed a National Nutrition Policy 2015 and in line with this, has decided to revise the first National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN), which was developed in 1998. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is leading this process with active participation from all relevant Ministries and development partners. The NPAN is expected to build on a true multisectoral approach, primarily aimed at reducing all forms of malnutrition, including stunting in young children. In addition to revising the technical contents, the NPAN will also be costed. It is expected that the NPAN will make a significant contribution to scaling up evidence-based cost-effective nutrition interventions in Bangladesh, with heightened national ownership.
A National Steering/Working Committee, Expert/Technical Committee, Core Committee and Sectoral Committees have been formed to update the NPAN.
As a part of NPAN development, a high-level technical meeting was held on 29th June 2016, with financial and technical support from WHO Country Office for Bangladesh. The MoHFW coordinated the activities with active participation from different ministries. Thirty-five participants from four sectoral committees, the technical committee, different government ministries, development partners and other organizations attended the meeting.
During the meeting, participants were divided into three sectors, namely: health, urban health, and WASH; food, agriculture, fisheries and livestock; women’s empowerment, education, social safety net, and information. The groups identified and then presented the priority intervention list for costing. Several other issues were raised during an open discussion, including:
1) The need for more emphasis on research.
2) The need for all relevant sectors to address behaviour change communication. It should follow a systematic process, be target-oriented and not common across sectors.
3) Monitoring and evaluation should be specific for all three sectors and followed up.
4) Costing or cost-effectiveness.
The meeting was concluded by Director General (Health Economics Unit), MoHFW. He suggested identifying very practicable interventions which will be helpful for promoting nutrition and also less difficult for costing.