No 'Thriposha' & Nutrients infants and mothers affected

Renuka Silva, Professor of Nutrition at the North Western University, says that under the current circumstances, the daily expenditure of a family to obtain a nutritious meal has increased to Rs. 700.

He said that in 2018 and 2019 this value was around Rs. 454.

Meanwhile, the Thriposha program provided by the government to uplift the nutrition of pregnant and breast feeding mothers and under weight children is not being implemented at present.

This is Due to the lack of maize and soya required for the production of Thriposha.

Although the monthly demand for Thriposha from the Ministry of Health is between 1.5 million and 1.6 million packets of 750 grams, the Thriposha factory has been shut down for several months.

Our news team revealed that 1100 metric tons of maize and 550 metric tons of soya are required per month to resume the production of Thriposha.

A spokesman said maize and soya are to be supplied to Sri Lanka in sufficient quantities for two months with the assistance of Indian loans and the production of the Thriposha factory will be resumed as soon as the stock is received.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Family Health Services Association states that the M M N micronutrient provided by the government to children between the ages of six months and one and a half years has not been provided for about three months.

Devika Kodithuwakku, the chairperson of the association speaking further had this to say...