As many as 3,837 malnourished children were identified in Bangalore during the eight screening camps conducted by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) between June 2012 and April 2014.
Of the total, 3,371 children have been treated and 466 are undergoing treatment at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (NRC). Twelve children suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan told presspersons here on Monday that the civic body would conduct another screening camp between August 19 and 23 to identify more malnourished children and to create awareness about malnutrition.
While children who aren’t covered by Integrated Child Development Services (ICDA) will be screened from August 19 to 22, those under ICDS will be examined on August 23. The programme will be launched at BBMP’s Dasappa Hospital and an awareness campaign will be held at the Dr. Rajkumar Glass House on August 19.
Mr. Lakshminarayan said that the focus was on areas in and around D.J. Halli, Pantharpalya and S.K. Garden, where more malnutrition cases were being reported. “There are around 7 lakh children in BBMP limits. We have set up additional anganwadis in D.J. Halli area and NRCs have been set up in a few government hospitals, including Lady Curzon and Bowring and Vani Vilas,” he said.
B.Y. Sudarshana, BBMP’s Programme Officer (Immunisation), pointed out that India was one of the most malnourished countries and that at least 10 per cent of children born in Bangalore weighed less than 2.5 kg. As part of identifying malnourished children, the BBMP was also hoping to create awareness among pregnant women and put in place a mother-and-child tracking system.
Dengue casesOf the suspected 249 suspected dengue cases reported in the city since January, 130 cases had tested positive for the disease, said Nirmala Buggi, BBMP’s in-charge Chief Health Officer. Though cases were reported from across the city, more cases were being reported from C.V. Raman Nagar and Malleswaram. Teams had been formed to identify mosquito breeding grounds.
