The Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka has rejected a UNICEF report on child malnutrition in Sri Lanka.
They say the data of the report are not satisfactory.
The ministry says that they have used data collected in Sri Lanka in 2016 (which shows 15% of children are wasted) and compared it with data collected from other countries from 1995 – 2019.
Secretary of the ministry – Janaka Sri Chandragupta points out that according to a nationwide study in late 2021, that percentage has been reduced to 13.2% and further reduced to 12.1% at the present.
He further notes that unlike in other countries, no disease or deaths are linked to the wastage and severe types of malnutrition such as Kwashiorkor and Marasmus are not seen in the country.
The embassy secretary also notes that they have briefed this to the UNICEF chief.
