By: Mayen Etim
KADUNA, North-West, Nigeria – The Federal Ministry of Health and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will roll out a Micronutrient Powder (MNP) Programme to benefit 96,000 children under five years in three Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
Mrs Chinwe Ezeife, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna,
made this known during a courtesy visit to key government agencies in Kaduna on Monday to introduce the programme and secure government commitments to scale up the programme.
The advocacy team, led by UNICEF officials visited the Ministry of Health, State Primary Health Care Development Board (SPHCDB), and Planning and Budget Commission (PBC).
Ezeife said that the programme would be piloted in three Local Government Areas namely, Zaria, Igabi, and Zangon Kataf as effective preventive intervention against malnutrition.
She said that the MNP was enriched with 15 vitamins and minerals, adding that health workers, parents and caregivers would be trained on how to use the home-based food fortification powder for children from six to 59 months.
She described the MNP as “highly effective prevention intervention” against malnutrition, and urged the state government to scale it up to other LGAs as routine intervention in health facilities.
“The programme will enrich complementary feeding component of infant and young child feeding as a low-cost high impact preventive intervention,” she said.
Also speaking, Mrs Adenike Bayode, Principal Nutrition Officer, Nutrition Division, Federal Ministry of Health commended the state government for the huge investment in nutrition and a robust integrated health plan.
Bayode explained that the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health would support Kaduna state government with 423 cartons of MNP that would benefit 96,000 children in the three LGAs.
She urged the state government to support the programme and make budgetary allocation to sustain it, given its effectiveness in preventing malnutrition in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, where it was first implemented.
“The support was in line with the Federal Ministry of Health’s focus on preventive measures, haven noticed that malnutrition sets in mostly after six months of exclusive breastfeeding.
“MNP is the way to go because it cost 160 dollars (N65,600) to treat one malnourished child with ready to use therapeutic food,” she said.
Responding, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Baloni, lauded the initiative, stressing that it would be more effective if integrated with existing programmes.
The commissioner said that linking the MNP programme with beyond primary health care to include secondary and tertiary facilities would ensure the success of the programme.
She said that the ministry’s Nutrition Unit would soon come on stream to ensure adequate planning and nutrition response in secondary and tertiary facilities in the state.
Also speaking, the Director Public Health in the ministry, Dr Hajara Kira, thanked the Federal Government and UNICEF for selecting Kaduna State as one of the benefiting states for the MNP programme.
Dr Hamza Abubakar, the Executive Secretary, PHCDB, reiterated the state government’s commitment in preventing any form of malnutrition among women and children.
Abubakar said that with the current focus on preventing malnutrition, the government would support the intervention which he described as a “welcome development”.
On his part, Mr Salisu Baba, Director, Development Aid Coordination, PBC, and the Secretariat of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition, promised to scale up the intervention in six local governments with high burden of malnutrition.
Earlier, the Chief Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, Dr Zakari Adam expressed optimism that the programme would succeed in Kaduna state considering the state’s huge commitment in addressing malnutrition.