The recipe for success: how policy-makers can integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into actions to end malnutrition
Food alone cannot solve the world's malnutrition crises but only three countries are looking beyond hunger to the other major driver, according to a global study released. Water, sanitation and hygiene, usually treated by governments and NGOs as a separate policy area from food and nutrition, make up the second leading cause of stunted growth in children, after underweight births, said the report. But only Cambodia, Niger, and Zimbabwe among the ten countries covered by the report are linking their response to malnutrition and water by bringing together the responsible agencies, according to charity WaterAid. Improving child health is a long term issue. It's not as simple as giving food and that improves malnutrition - right? Dan Jones of WaterAid told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Jones said governments that treat food and water separately cannot prevent malnutrition. Instead, they must tackle the poor sanitation that causes malnutrition, via infection and disease.