He said: In accordance with the order of the President and the emphasis of the Minister of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare to reduce and eliminate poverty in the country and in line with the fulfillment of part of the promises of the 14th government, the heads of households of more than 347,000 malnourished children under the age of 5 who have visited health centers across the country will receive credit for buying free food baskets from November 18 through the electronic catalog plan.
He said about the per capita payment of children’s food basket credit, which is done in the account of the head of the household through the electronic voucher plan: At this stage, for the number of 286 thousand 714 malnourished children in very needy households with low economic capacity, the amount of 20 million Rials and for the 60 thousand 933 children with malnutrition in needy households with medium economic capacity, the amount of 12 million Rials to provide a food basket containing items approved by the Ministry of Health, Medicine and Medical education has been charged through the national credit network and the national number of the head of the household.
He added: This plan has been charged monthly since the beginning of 1405, and in November, it is the eighth stage of its implementation this year.
Andayesh clarified: Children’s food security program is one of the core programs of the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare.
According to him, the time of embryo formation before the end of five years (when more than 90% of the child’s brain is formed at this time) is a golden opportunity to support children, and if malnutrition is not solved in this golden time, it will cause serious damage to the brain, disability and the continuation of the cycle of poverty and intergenerational poverty.
The Deputy Minister of Welfare and Economic Affairs stated: Despite the economic fluctuations caused by the war, sanctions and severe economic impulses of the last few years, the necessity of this matter has become more prominent than in the past and has necessitated the government’s immediate intervention in order to reduce the malnutrition of these children.
Andaish said: Fortunately, the allocation of funds necessary for the implementation of this project in 1405 has been predicted and allocated by the country’s planning and budget organization.
In this regard, it was decided that the credit for the purchase of free food basket approved by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education for each child will be provided to the head of the household with a malnourished child under 5 years of age.
The vice president of welfare and economic affairs about how to identify children eligible for this plan added: The mentioned children were identified through monitoring the child’s anthropometric indicators (measurement of weight and height and comparison with growth curves) in health centers and homes in order to reduce malnutrition (thinness, underweight and short stature) and after summarizing the data in medical sciences universities across the country, the required information was sent by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education to the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social welfare is sent for eligibility assessment (through a comprehensive test and based on the data of the Iranian welfare database), at this stage, according to the updates made by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, the population of children between the ages of 5 and 59 months included in the plan has reached more than 347 thousand people.
The vice president of welfare and economic affairs stated: the designated basket items are available to the household and can be purchased in all the stores of the party to the electronic catalog contract; Every household can purchase the specified items within a period of one month from the allocated credit date.
