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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Acute child malnutrition in Nigeria no longer for North-East only

Stakeholders in the health, especially on children welfare have raised alarmed that acute child malnutrition in Nigeria is no longer problem of North-East, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This alarm was contained in the communique issued in Owerri after a two-day  Media Dialogue on Child Malnutrition organized by UNICEF in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture for media practitioners, nutritionists and other stakeholders in Nigeria.

The event which held with the theme “Good nutrition- An investment for the future” at the end of the deliberations at De Legend Hotel, Owerri, Imo State, participants noted that child malnutrition is on the rise in Nigeria despite concerted efforts by government, UNICEF and other development partners to combat it.

They stated that more worrisome was the fact that cases of acute child malnutrition, contrary to erroneous perceptions in some quarters, are no longer a problem of only the North East and parts of North West affected by insurgency.

“Acute child malnutrition now cuts across every state in Nigeria, as there are confirmed and shocking cases of malnutrition in other states of the country,” part of the communique read.

For them, government should declare a state of emergency on child malnutrition as findings and researches have shown that over 2.5 million children suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) annually in Nigeria with about 20 per cent of them at the risk of imminent death unless there is quick intervention.

They also call on the Nigerian government to show more commitment towards the global efforts against child malnutrition, stressing that government at all levels should do more to complement the efforts of UNICEF and other development partners in fighting child malnutrition in the country.


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Pix: Baby Daniel Osuagwu ... a malnutrioushed child from Imo State

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