Health and Wellness

Khulisa Care is a pilot programme recently launched by the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness is aimed at breaking the cycle of malnutrition and preventing childhood stunting.

The programme is in partnership with the Department of the Premier and the DG Murray Trust and is a collaborative effort with civil society and the private sector including Grow Great Campaign and Shoprite.

The programme targets three critical groups – underweight pregnant women, women at risk of delivering low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kg), and mothers who have already given birth to babies born with a low birth weight.

The goal is to prevent babies from being born underweight and to make sure moms of those who are born underweight get the right support to help their babies grow and thrive in their first six months, thereby reducing the rate of stunting among children under the age of five.

This initiative combines monthly nutrition support for protein-rich foods from Shoprite with comprehensive primary healthcare support, delivered through trained community health workers which will be rolled out in 3 geographic areas of the province, 2 urban and 1 rural. Beneficiaries will receive a monthly R525 Shoprite Xtra Savings Deal loaded onto their Shoprite Xtra Savings Card for a select basket of 10 nutritious foods redeemable at all Shoprite stores in the Western Cape.  And key supplements like folate and iron.

The foods that they will be able to purchase are:

• Tinned tuna
• Tinned pilchards
• Long life full cream milk
• Amasi
• Soya mince
• Eggs
• Fortified maize meal
• Dried or tinned beans
• Dried lentils
• Peanut butter

With protein-rich and nutrient dense foods often too expensive for poorer pregnant women, micronutrient deficiencies are common. In South Africa, iron deficiency and anaemia are widespread among women of reproductive age, with the South African Demographic and Health Survey reporting anaemia in one in three women, with higher figures in some provinces.

Iron is essential for red blood cells to deliver oxygen throughout the body and is necessary for the healthy development of the foetus. Iron is found in most abundance in protein-rich foods like eggs, fish, chicken, beans, lentils and nuts. A lack of other micronutrients like zinc, calcium, folate, vitamins A, D, and B12 also negatively affect moms and babies. For example, zinc deficiency is associated with high blood pressure during pregnancy and preterm labour; vitamin A deficiency can affect both pregnant moms and newborns and cause night blindness; and folate and B12 deficiencies can lead to neural tube defects and anaemia.

To give moms and babies even more support, we’ve partnered with the DG Murray Trust to create an educational booklet and a recipe guide. These give moms practical ideas on how to prepare these foods in ways that are both nutritious and tasty.

They will also benefit from visits from trained community health workers twice a month who will offer:

• Regular growth monitoring of babies,
• Counselling on maternal and infant nutrition, including breastfeeding,
• Information on healthy pregnancies, reducing risky behaviour such as smoking and alcohol use, and pregnancy and postnatal infant care such as identifying danger signs and adhering to immunisation schedules, and
• Information on maternal mental health.

And to make sure that our community healthcare workers are confident and prepared, we have trained nearly 100 healthcare in the Breede Valley and more than 200 in Khayelitsha. With more training sessions scheduled for Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.

The pilot programme was first rolled out in Breede Valley in July 2025, with Khayelitsha in August 2025 and Mitchells Plain set to follow in the coming weeks. The intake period is expected to span the next three to five months, with participating women receiving support from their first antenatal visit until their child turns six months old.

Pregnant women will be screened at public health facilities offering antenatal services. Those who are underweight or at risk of delivering a low-birth-weight baby will be enrolled. New mothers whose babies are born underweight will also be identified at birth or during follow-up visits. Healthcare professionals, such as nurses and midwives, will play a key role in referring eligible women to the programme.

This is a pilot project that we hope will:

• Reduce low birth weight rates,
• Increase exclusive breastfeeding,
• Improve maternal health and nutrition, and
• Provide a model that can scale.