The Nasarawa State Government has said one out of every three children in the state suffers from malnutrition caused by starvation.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Iya, said this at a one-day sensitisation workshop for lawmakers and stakeholders in nutrition in Lafia, the state capital.
Iya said, “We will need support and collaboration from sectors such as agriculture, education and women affairs, for obvious reasons. We can provide all the needed nutritional software, like advice and counselling on appropriate feeding for mothers, infants and young children.
“But when the hardware, such as foodstuff, is not available or accessible, then it becomes meaningless as nutritional status cannot be improved without the availability of foods.”
The commissioner further affirmed the readiness of the state Ministry of Health to create a conducive environment in terms of policy and plans to battle malnutrition and that it would need the support of other ministries to achieve its goal.
“These worrisome statistics are a pointer to us that all hands must be on deck to ensure that corrective measures are put in place to stem the tide of malnutrition in our dear state and to save our children of catastrophic physical, mental and social handicap,”Iya added.
Two non-governmental organisations, the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health and the Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria, appealed to all governments across the country to increase funding for maternal and child nutrition to protect lives.
Earlier, a representative of United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, Mrs. Florence Oni, expressed the readiness of the UNICEF to fully support states in providing Vitamin A supplement for children aged zero to six.
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