Mara Regional Medical Officer (RMO), Dr. Zabrone Masatu announced that at least 1,090 children under the age of five with malnutrition have been treated in the past year, out of whom 608 had their health completely improved. Some parents believed that the minors were bewitched and 20 out of 1,090 children were taken from the hospital to traditional healers. 

However, Dr. Masatu affirmed that Community Health Workers (CHWs) were looking out for children to bring them back to hospitals while also identifying more malnutrition cases in society. He noted that “Wrong beliefs are somehow hindering the efforts. We keep on educating traditional healers not to handle such minors.”

He appreciated the ‘USAID Afya Yangu-RMNCAH project, which is implemented by the Tanzanian government to provide technical support in the aspect of capacity building to staff, on how best to solve nutrition complications. The initiative is in collaboration with various stakeholders in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, and malnutrition is one of the many diseases it treats.

The ‘Afya Yangu-RMNCAH’ project is being funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) which costs 66.8 million USD. The RMO informed the community that ongoing efforts will be made to combat malnutrition, given that the area has a range of nutritional meals.

Also, service providers and CHWs are required to encourage expecting mothers to attend clinic sessions and give birth in hospitals in order to ensure close supervision of both mothers and newborns. They also do regular meet-ups with the healers for public education, on especially malnutrition symptoms and the negatives.

Ms. Lucy Mwalwayo, Bunda Town Council Nutrition Officer also reiterated that the search is in progress to bring the children back to hospitals from traditional healers. She revealed, “Traditional healers are now on our side as they immediately communicate use after receiving children with such symptoms, adding that some children do come back to hospitals in severe condition, of which the recovery is not guaranteed.”

Mr. Malegesi Masije, a traditional healer in Bunda’s Manyamanyama neighborhood, acknowledged that he was unintentionally killing the youngsters with the incorrect dosages he administers.

“We give only traditional medicines for oral and bathing uses. However, the children whose parents violate our traditions, such as killing a python do experience the same malnutrition symptoms, a reason why we accommodate the victims,” he said. Additionally, in maternity wards and clinic visits, mothers receive training on how to make nourishing meals for the kids at home.