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Malnutrition greatly affecting Gambia's economy

Gambia’s economy is losing $83 million a year due to the effects of child undernutrition, according to a new study released in Banjul yesterday.

The loss is about 5.1 per cent of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to a study by the multi-agency Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) increased healthcare costs, additional burdens to the education system and reduced workforce productivity are the ways through which losses incurred each year.

“It is alarming that we are losing 5.1 per cent of our National GDP annually because of the consequences of child undernutrition on school performance, health and productivity,” said H.E. Dr Isatou Touray, the Vice President of Gambia.

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“The Government of Gambia is committed to working with all partners through the NDP to build a prosperous nation with a healthy and well-developed human resource,” she said during the launch …