15Million Women, Children Benefit from FG’s Nutrition Intervention

•As ministries defy directive on setting up nutrition desk

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Federal government yesterday said that it has been able to reach out to over 15 million Nigerian women and children with nutrient fortification supplements as part of efforts to address the burden of malnutrition in the country.

 The milestone came just as the stakeholders at a Media Roundtable organised by the Civil Society on Setting Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) in Abuja expressed concern of the delay by most of the federal ministries and parastatals to implement the presidential directive to set up a Nutrition department in their offices.

While giving update on federal government’s nutrition intervention programme, the National Co-ordinator of Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRIV) Dr. Ojulape Solanke said that more than 15 million children and pregnant women in 12 states of the federation have received various nutrition supplements since the commencement of the initiative.

She explained that the ANRIN project is being implemented in the 12 states drawn from the six geographical zones of the country as as part of the multi-sectoral initiative to improve the healthcare indices of the country.

“We are working in 12 states of the federation along with line MDAs in Nigeria. At the moment we have provided nutrition packages and services to over 15 million women and children and the objectives of the programme is to increase the utilization of quality, cost effective services to pregnant women and lactating women in Nigeria,” she said.

According to her, the project is working with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to provide nutrition advocate services at the various Primary Healthcare Centres in the country.

The Special Assistant on Public Health, Focal Person on Nutrition, Office of the Vice President of Health, Uju Vanstasia Anwurukah said that the Vice President, Kassim Shettima has given  a directive to all ministries, department and agencies to set up the Nutrition Department without further delay.

She said Shettima as the Chairman of the National Council on Nutrition has been spearheading the efforts to implement government’s policy on nutrition.

She also urged various ministries and agencies at state level to set up a Nutrition  department to act as a focal office driving nutrition advocacy in their respective offices.

Also, while highlighting progress made in driving nutrition outcomes, CS-SUNN said that federal government has directed the National Council on Nutrition to strengthen nutrition governance at all Levels from the Federal to the Sub-national Levels including the implementation of the Presidential directives on the setting up of Nutrition Departments in all relevant Ministries, departments and agencies in the country.

In a statement read by CS-SUNN’s Aji Rachael Robinson, said that government should support Nutrition financing Initiatives and direct the setting up of a Nutrition Investment Trust Funds.

She said government should sustain emergency food assistance, health and protection assistance to those in most critical need, particularly during the lean season, including new arrivals from hard-to-reach areas, IDPs in camps, and affected host communities.

The organisation said that as part of it’s interventions efforts, the federal government has issued a directive for the creation of budget line for Nutrition to ensure availability of funds for the implementation of the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition, which annual estimated cost of implementation is $100 million

“We believe that taking these measures and urgently, would position the country in the right track to ending food in-security and malnutrition,” he said

A nutrition expert, Prof Kola Amigo  said that it is practically impossible for the country to achieve her SDG target without improving on nutrition outcomes.

According to him, adequate funding and implementation of policy on nutrition is very key to attaining the set goal.

While amplifying the need to upgrade the nutrition unit into a a department with budget head, another nutrition expert and a retired senior officer at the Ministry of Planning Mrs. Nelson Nduka Chito lamented that at that most of the ministries and parastatals are yet to comply with the president’s directive on setting up of Nutrition Department in their respective offices.

She said that only about 7 states of the Federation has approved the creation of nutrition departments in their MDAs.

She also said that there is need to ensure that only qualified Nutritionist is appointed to head the Nutrition departments at the federal and state levels

A veteran nutrition advocate Davies Omotola made a case for proper funding and implementation of nutrition programmes, adding that improving nutrition outcomes is a sure way of achieving targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

On his part, the President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Prof. Wasiu Afolabi urged the federal government to ensure that the Head of Service and the ministries and agencies implement the presidential directive on establishment of Nutrition Departments.