This talk by Dr. Mary Nana Ama Brantuo from the United Nations’ World Health Organisation (WHO) in Namibia is part of: “Namibia’s Journey Towards Nutrition and Food Security” – A series of engagement talks to share insights, experiences and ideas on how to ensure optimal nutrition for everyone in Namibia.
On 21 April 2021, Dr. Brantuo, Child and Adolescent Health Officer at WHO Namibia, started off by providing a brief background of her own journey within the WHO. She then explained the WHO’s global role in, especially around universal health coverage, with the goal of ensuring that everyone will have access to health care services by 2023.
Dr. Brantuo further gave an overview of WHO’s 4 main priorities that help them achieve their goals:
- Advancing Universal Health Coverage,
- Addressing Health Emergencies,
- Promoting Healthier Populations, and
- Strengthening Leadership, Governance and Enabling Functions.
The importance of nutrition was strongly emphasized, as well as that it is very critical across all areas of health and development because it helps breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger. She then gave a quick description of the double- and triple nutrition burden globally before shifting the focus to past, present, and future interventions in Namibia.
She concluded by the stating the areas of engagement that still needs strengthening, such as creating more enabling policies, e.g., regulation of breastmilk substitutes and maternity support and protection.
Her talk was followed by an interactive session with comments and questions from the audience.
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