Assessment of Health and Nutritional Status of Underprivileged Women and Children in Six Tsunami Affected Provinces-

บทคัดย่อ

         A survey study was conducted to assess health and nutritional status of underprivileged women and children in six tsunami affected provinces during September - November 2007.  The assessment included a total of 7,401 children and 6,210 women selected from 87 villages under 22 sub-districts and was carried out by Phuket, Phangnga, Krabi, Trang, Satun and Ranong provincial health offices under the research protocol and supervision of the Department of Health.

          Malnutrition among the studied children was higher than the national target with the average of 11.26 percent being malnourished.  The underweight prevalence rates were 12.4 percent in Phuket, 17.88 percent in Phangnga, 12 percent in Ranong, 10.6 percent in Satun, 7.5 percent in Krabi, and 6.2 percent in Trang provinces. 

           The assessment also revealed that the percentage of low birth weight infants was high in Phangnga (12.7%) and Ranong (9.65%) despite good antenatal care coverage in both provinces.  The percentage of household consumption of iodized salt was 89.4 percent higher than UNICEF- Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (2005-06) data 60.3 percent.

           Analysis of the data demonstrated that complete immunization coverage of children was 93 percent.  The antenatal care coverage remained lower than the national target (90%) while skilled attendance at delivery achieved a higher coverage of over 90 percent.

            About 90 percent of the assessed households had access to good quality water (either tap water or from protected wells and bottled water).  The majority of the households had access to sanitation facilities with sanitary latrines.  The greater percentage (> 50%) of the interviewed women knew about HIV prevention, availability of HIV testing, counseling and availability of antiviral for prevention from mother to child transmission (PMTCT).

Key words:  health and nutritional assessment, underprivileged women and children, tsunami affected    areas