Faith healers

Beautiful as the surroundings maybe, there's always a dark side...

It's an atoll where a lot of trust is placed in faith healers... Some of the false believes with regard to breastfeeding, weaning and supplementary feeds Ingrained in the society puts the children at risk. At present, Ga. Atoll has the highest numbers of children with stunting and wasting in the country. Faulty development in the earlier years put the children, their families and the community at a disadvantage... 

Point to ponder is, what leads people to seek alternative forms of treatment... fanditha for breast engorgement and earth worm soup for hyperemesis are some forms of therapies that had come up in discussions... 

Specific targeted communication strategies need to be adopted... Health Protection Agency of the Maldives with support from UNICEF Maldives had conducted a breastfeeding counseling workshop and Essential Newborn Care Course training for the healthcare workers of Ga. Atoll in 2014. 

During the time spent there, we were pleased to have worked with young and energetic group of local nurses and community health officers... I hope they are  continuing with their pledge to work closer with the communities to bring about positive changes... 

The solution is motivated healthcare workers from within the community working for the community... Who better can understand the factors affecting their health? The infrastructure and equipments are all there... We need people to take the lead and provide the services with confidence.