Experts, doctors, dieticians pledge to strengthen medical college curriculum with specific focus on MIYCN

New Delhi: Public health experts, government representatives, doctors and dieticians have pledged to come together to reform and strengthen the medical college curriculum, with a specific focus on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) in the country.

Specifically, the medical curriculum needs to be reformed further to incorporate nutrition competencies like breast feeding, complementary feeding in the new Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) of the National Medical Council, Dr Kapil Yadav, Professor at the Centre of Community Medicine at the AIIMS and Governing Council member of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM), said.

Nutrition services like counselling, anthropometry to be incorporated in medical college clinics and rural and urban field practice areas, and there should be joint teaching and training of undergraduate and post-graduate medical students in nutrition by the Department of Community Medicine, Paediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, he added.

The nutritional condition of a woman serves as a strong indicator of the well-being of both herself and her children, Yadav said.

"Unfortunately, many women and children worldwide face triple threats of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and being overweight. This leads to a reduced work capacity, poor well-being and increased risk for infections," he said.

Considering the pressing issue of malnutrition, it is imperative to address the county-level challenges, as India is a vast country and the challenges differ in each state and region, the experts said at a roundtable discussion on MIYCN organised by the IAPSM and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, in association with the UNICEF, on Wednesday.

Dr Zoya Ali Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, In-charge, Nutrition at the Union health ministry, emphasised the importance of enhancing communication skills in healthcare providers, utilisation of allotted budgets to the programmes, the government's initiatives in strengthening MIYCN and development of targeted training materials for beneficiaries.

Furthermore, she elaborated on the importance of a "well-nourished child developing into a well-nourished adult", contributing towards the country's economic growth.

The burden of anaemia is also very high with 67 per cent children aged below five years and 57 per cent women in the reproductive age group (15-49 years) being anaemic, according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5).

According to the survey (2019-21), the current burden of malnourishment in children under five years in India (stunting, wasting and underweight) is 35.5 per cent for stunting, 19.3 per cent for wasting and 32.1 per cent for underweight.

Malnutrition among women aged 15-49 years is also high at 18.7 per cent. There has been some reduction in recent years as compared to the NFHS-4 of 2015-16, Yadav said.

The members acknowledged the multifaceted nature of MIYCN and committed to integrating comprehensive MIYCN education into the curricula of medical colleges.

This will encompass a spectrum of medical disciplines, including community medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, medicine, geriatrics and others.

"Our goal is to equip future healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to address MIYCN challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective," Yadav said.

"We will invest in faculty development programmes to ensure that educators possess the expertise required to effectively teach MIYCN topics. Continuous professional development will be encouraged, ensuring that the faculty members remain up-to-date with the latest developments in MIYCN," he added.

The experts acknowledged that healthcare disparities exist, with rural communities and the urban poor often facing limited access to essential services, including proper nutrition and maternal and child healthcare.

"By integrating rural and urban field experiences into the MIYCN curriculum, we commit to addressing these disparities and ensuring equitable access to healthcare and nutrition services.

"We recognise that providing healthcare professionals with a comprehensive education that includes practical experiences in rural and urban-poor settings is essential. Such experiences expose students to the realities of healthcare delivery in resource-constrained environments, promoting a more holistic understanding of MIYCN," Dr A M Kadri, President, IAPSM, said.

Inputs from PTI