Gombe State First Lady, Hajiya Asma’u Inuwa Yahaya, has reaffirmed the continued commitment of the Inuwa Yahaya led administration to addressing the problem of acute malnutrition among children under the age of 5 in the state.
The First Lady gave this indication when she played host to a team from the Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS SUNN) on an advocacy visit at her office on Monday.
She noted that malnutrition is one of the major public health issues that affects children in most countries of the world, stating that according to UNICEF, in Nigeria, 5 in 10 children under the age of 5 suffer from the effects of malnourishment.
She added that the UNICEF report indicates an underlying cause of 45 percent of all deaths of under-5 children with estimated two million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with only 2 out of every 10 children affected are currently reached with treatment.
The First Lady who is the nutrition ambassador in Gombe state, also stated that upon assumption of office, her husband, Governor Inuwa Yahaya, met a challenging indices that placed Gombe on the last lap of the charter on nutrition among other states across the country, a situation which compelled the administration to increase budgetary allocation on nutrition.
She mentioned that the increased budgetary allocation was meant for the procurement of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food and production of complementary baby feeds using the locally available farm produce, targeting infants and children especially those under the age of five.
The First Lady told her visitors that Gombe was ready to partner with any organization ready to support its nutrition initiatives, saying “we are delighted to receive. You came at a time we need more collaboration to tackle this problem of malnutrition among our children. I want to assure you of our support to any initiative aimed at changing the trend of malnutrition in Gombe state and the Nigeria. Our doors are open for collaboration to ensure the improved health and wellbeing of our children in Gombe state.”
According to the team lead, Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS SUNN), the rate of malnutrition in Nigeria prompted the idea of non-governmental organisations collaborating with the government to tackle the problem and profer lasting solutions.
In her remarks, the Gombe State CS SUNN coalition coordinator, Comfort Mukollo, appreciated Governor Inuwa Yahaya for the increased budgetary allocation for nutrition, urging government to improve on the current efforts to ensure timely release of funds for the nutrition programs as well as the provision of crèches at workplaces.
The Borno State coordinator of CS SUNN, Aishatu Maidala, commended Gombe state for its efforts in producing the complementary baby feed, saying Gombe has become a model in the nutrition program while disclosing plans to embark on understudy tour to Gombe to learn how the state has improved its nutrition system and become a reference point among states.