News

Stakeholders call for increased funding to tackle acute malnutrition

admin
22 May 2019 9:30 AM GMT
Stakeholders call for increased funding to tackle acute malnutrition
x

Stakeholders call for increased funding to tackle acute malnutrition Stakeholders in the health sector have called on the Federal Government and private sector to ensure increased funding to tackle risks associated with acute malnutrition in children across Nigeria. The appeal was made when the Aisha Buhari Foundation (ABF) in collaboration with other critical stakeholders paid […]

Stakeholders call for increased funding to tackle acute malnutrition

Stakeholders in the health sector have called on the Federal Government and private sector to ensure increased funding to tackle risks associated with acute malnutrition in children across Nigeria.

The appeal was made when the Aisha Buhari Foundation (ABF) in collaboration with other critical stakeholders paid advocacy visit to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udoma, in Abuja.

Other stakeholders included the International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH), Network of Health Equity and Development (NHED) and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).

Speaking on behalf of the Aisha Buhari Foundation, the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr Hajo Sani, urged relevant authorities to facilitate the finalisation and funding of the national multi-sectoral plan of action for nutrition.

She said the purpose of the visit was to committ and canvass for more funding to ensure treatment and prevention of severe acute malnutrition in children.

Sani said undernutrition was a major course of childhood mortality and prevented children from reaching their full physical and mental wellbeing.

She underscored the need for stakeholders to prioritise investment in child health, considering the threat it possed to national development.

“We have to address this problem because it is not just a health issue, but a social and developmental issue which all hands must be on deck to tackle,” she said.

Responding the minister said severe acute malnutrition in children was a terrible health challenge, hence the need to ensure urgent intervention.

Udoma assured the delegation of his determination to ensure that necessary mechanism was put in place to provide solution for the treatment and prevention of the challenge.

“It is important to make sure that no child in Nigeria suffer as a result of severe acute malnutrition any more,” he said.

The minister also called on state governments to get involved in the fight against malnutrition among children in Nigeria.

On her part, Mrs Muji Makonjoula, the Chief Executive Officer, ISMPH, said the meeting was to remind the stakeholders of the need to make available therapeutic food to support malnurished children.

Makonjuola said there was need for government and private sector to make available the necessary resources to cater for children in dire need of nutritional food items.

“We don’t have manufactured ready to use therapeutic food in Nigeria, So, we need to constantly remind governments that they need to make money available to ensure that what is meant for the children is always available.

“Especially, the treatment and prevention of malnutrition.

“These children are voiceless leaders of tomorrow and if they have deficiency as a result of malnutrition, it will become a major problem for us as a nation,” she said.

She said the fight against malnutrition was a collective responsibility to ensure that the disease was treated and prevented.

“So,there is need for the Federal and State Governments to collaborate especially in states with high number of malnurished children,” she added.

Source: NAN

Photo Credit: Google

admin

admin

    Next Story