Over 100 participants, including health officials from the five Central Asian governments gathered on April 8 at a regional forum in Ashgabat discussing mother and child nutrition in Central Asia. The two-day event was co-organized by the Turkmen government and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reported Irin on April 9.  First held in 1997 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the forum has served the purpose of providing a medium for Central Asian governments to exchange knowledge and experiences in addressing important health issues in the region, particularly ones related to women and children. This year’s event focused on nutrition and HIV/AIDS.

Among the key achievements noted at the summit included greater use of micronutrients, iodized salt and fortified flour in the region Waheed Hassan, head of the UNICEF mission in Turkmenistan, told IRIN. Shahnaz Kianian-Firouzgar, deputy UNICEF regional director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said that Central Asia “still faces serious nutrition problems, marked by chronic malnutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and an increasing number of children who are overweight - the double burden of malnutrition.”  He stressed that particular attention should be paid to children below two years of age, reported the news source.

This information was originally published on April 9, 2008.  (www.irinnews.org)