<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-top:12.4pt;margin-right:53.6pt;margin-bottom: 0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:115%">A<span style="letter-spacing:-.35pt"> </span>stakeholder meeting<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>was held<span style="letter-spacing:-.3pt"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing:-.3pt"> </span>2nd<span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt"> </span>July<span style="letter-spacing:-.3pt"> </span>2024<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>at Director Office, AIIMS Raipur. Lt<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>Gen<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>Ashok<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>Jindal (Retd.), Executive Director & CEO, AIIMS Raipur met Chief (In-Charge) of UNICEF Chhattisgarh office, Mr. William Hanlon Jr alongside Dr. Anil Kumar Goel, Program Director & HOD Pediatrics, AIIMS Raipur, Dr. Aparna Deshpande, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Raipur, and Dr. Mahendra<span style="letter-spacing:2.0pt"> </span>Prajapati, Nutrition Officer, UNICEF Raipur. The meeting was aimed to discuss the progress of the State Center of Excellence for Nutrition Interventions (SCoE4N) established under Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS Raipur and scope of further collaboration and way forward was discussed. Mr. William has appreciated<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>ongoing<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>implementation<span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt"> </span>of Community Based<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>Management of Severe<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>Acute<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>Malnutrition (CSAM) by Department of Women and Child Development and Department of Health and Family welfare, Government of Chhattisgarh, aptly<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>led<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>supported<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>by<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>SCoE4N-AIIMS Raipur with<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>support<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>of UNICEF Chhattisgarh. The innovative practices of NRC Tele-monitoring and IYCF Tele0mentoring initiated by SCOE4N were also acknowledged. In the past year (2023) the center has completed Tele- monitoring of 106 Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRCS) and Tele-mentoring on Infant and Young Child<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>Feeding<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>(IYCF) of counsellors from<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>57 state Government run<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>health<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>facilities. District level Project team<span style="letter-spacing:-.35pt"> </span>supported<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>the monitoring of more<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>than<span style="letter-spacing: -.15pt"> </span>1100 AWCs and<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>supported<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>Department of Woman<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>Child Development in training more than 22,000 AWWs on Poshan Tracker and CSAM. Measuring Efficiency (for 22.5 Lac children) in the Poshan Tracker improved from 16% in January 2023 to 95% in December 2023. Team could also support the enrollment of more than 14,000 SAM and MAM children in CSAM programme, which was started with 208 enrollments in January 2023. Mr. William also visited the IYCF Skill lab and SMART Unit (Severe Acute Malnutrition Referral & Advance Treatment) of SCoE4N, meant for management of severely complicated SAM Children, where he interacted with the team members and observed the work firsthand with much zeal. He has also been through the research and knowledge management work initiated in the area of malnutrition reduction by SCOE4N. With mutual agreement of<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>both<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>heads Dr Jindal<span style="letter-spacing:-.2pt"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: -.25pt"> </span>Mr. William, it was decided<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>that the<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>holistic model of<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>SCoE4N and its functioning will be disseminated with ministry and with other states attempting to curtail malnutrition. It is envisioned<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>organize<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>a national level conference<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>CSAM<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span>garner enthusiasm<span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt"> </span>from stakeholders and representatives across all states of the country. It was discussed that findings from the current project should<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>reach<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>those working<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing:-.15pt"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>same direction which will<span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt"> </span>act as template<span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span>for replication and will prevent reinventing the wheel.<o:p></o:p></p>

