In South Africa, approximately 40 out of every 1000 live birthed infants will die before their first birthday. As many as 33 per 1000 live births will die before their fifth birthday.
“As a country, we fall into the top third of countries in terms of highest Infant Mortality Rate, and although our under-5 mortality rate has declined, it remains too high," says Dr Celeste Naude, senior researcher at Stellenbsoch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).
Naude, who is a registered dietician and does research at SU's Centre for Evidence-based Healthcare (CEBH), has been appointed to her second three-year term on the Ministerial Committee on Morbidity and Mortality of Children under 5 Years (CoMMiC). This comes after her first appointment in 2015.
CoMMiC was established in 2008 and is one of three national committees that monitor and report on maternal, perinatal and childhood deaths in South Africa. The committee's goal is to provide an overview of trends, causes and contributing factors related to maternal and child deaths and disease, along with recommendations to reduce these deaths.
According to Naude, who was also appointed as co-director of Cochrane Nutrition in 2016, child mortality audits show that almost a third (30.9%) of children who die in our country are severely malnourished. Her role is to contribute to debates and decision making processes, especially on issues pertinent to nutrition, as well as to communicate the CoMMiC's recommendations to relevant stakeholders.
“Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, and it is privilege, both professionally and personally, to be given the opportunity to engage with decision-makers and to continuously learn about the barriers and facilitators to improving child nutrition and preventing deaths," she says.
“Nutrition is not only a service to be delivered, but also an outcome of developmental processes in society, and a basic human right. It is fundamental for attaining full intellectual and physical potential," she continues.
She says CoMMiC functions to support ministerial decision-making. “Policymakers and healthcare service managers need accurate and complete information on child deaths, such as numbers, causes and possible solutions, to help them make better decisions when planning and monitoring health outcomes and healthcare service delivery. CoMMiC contributes to this by examining data and making informed recommendations to the Minister of Health," she explains. This is in line with South Africa's commitment to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as set out by the United Nations (UN), to reduce mortality rates of children under five to at least as low as 25 per 1000 live births.
“Too many children in South Africa are still dying of preventable causes, poor nutrition being a key cause," says Naude.
She says being involved in activities like CoMMiC deepens her understanding of the complex policy-research interfaces, which in turn helps to enable her to contribute robust and relevant research on key nutrition areas affecting child health.
“Nutrition is necessary not only to survive, but also to thrive."
