Board, NGO, sensitise medics to micronutrient supplementation in Kaduna
By Sani Idris
Kaduna, Jun.28, 2024(NAN) Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board (SPHCB) and Alive & Thrive (A&T), have begun a two-day sensitisation programme for Nutrition Focal Persons (NFPs) across the 23 LGAs of Kaduna State.
The focus of the training is on ‘Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) for pregnant women in the state.
A&T, a global nutrition programme, aims to improve the health and well-being of mothers and children in developing countries.
The programme focuses on promoting optimal maternal and infant nutrition practices, including breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, and adequate micro nutrient intake
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the sensitisation was organised by the board with support from A&T and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
Others that supported were: MMS grantees: UNICEF, Nutrition International, Results for Development (R4D) and Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN).
The State Team Lead for A&T, Mrs Sarah Kwasu, said the sensitisation programme was aimed at improving the state and LGAs nutrition stakeholders MMS programming/planning knowledge and capacity.
Kwasu equally said the sensitisation was aimed at integrating A&T’s MMS support into the State MMS implementation plan for the second half of 2024.
According to her, it will help the state and LGA nutrition stakeholders appreciate A&T MMS mandates and support as well as securing nutrition stakeholder buy-in.
She, therefore, emphasised the significance of MMS in reducing the prevalence of malnutrition in the state.
Speaking further, Kwasu lamented that one in five maternal deaths and nearly half of all child deaths under age five were caused by malnutrition.
She also said that the prevalence of anaemia in women of reproductive age and pregnant women In Nigeria wass widely recognized as an important public health problem.
Kwasu said, ”This is because of its negative consequences for pregnancy outcome and its impact on maternal mortality.
”Over the past five decades, Iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation has become a core component of antenatal care for pregnant women In Nigeria to address anaemia.”
The team lead said while IFA were critical nutrients, they were not the only nutrients that pregnant women may need to support their health and the health of their children.
She said, ”Women need nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainable diets along with essential nutrition services and positive nutrition practices for their own survival, heallh and well-being as well as that of their children.”
Kwasu encouraged the NFPs to disseminate the knowledge gained to expectant mothers and caregivers in their respective communities.
Mr Olumide Faleke, the Senior Technical Advisor, Interpersonal Communication/Community Mobilisation of A&T, lamented that across the world, women diets were often poor in quality and lacked nutrients.
Faleke stressed that maternal nutrition was critical to ensuring that women have healthy pregnancies and that children grow into healthy adults.
Earlier, the Kaduna State Nutrition Officer (SNO), Mrs Ramatu Haruna, commended A&T for its efforts in improving maternal and child nutrition in the state.
Haruna, represented by her Assistant, Blessing Maikano, assured them of the state government’s continued support for nutrition-related initiatives.
The Director, Development Aid Coordination at the state’s Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), Hajiya Aisha Muhammad and the Project Manager of Kaduna Emergency Nutrition Action Plan (KADENAP) Umar Bamballe, emphasised the importance of collaboration in addressing malnutrition.
Also, the State Coordinator of CS-SUNN in Kaduna, Ms Jessica Bartholomew, commended A&T for organising the orientation for the stakeholders.
Bartholomew restated CS-SUNN’s commitment to improving maternal and child health in Nigeria through the advocacy and the promotion of MMS for pregnant women.
On her part, Chinwe Ezeife, the Nutrition Specialist of UNICEF, Kaduna Field Office, highlighted their mandate on scaling MMS in Nigeria, through Bill and Melinda Gates (BMGF) funded project (2023-2027).
She added that UNICEF was supporting the state to ensure that national guidelines on micro-nutrients deficiency control was the guiding document for implementing MMS.
Ezeife said, “UNICEF will support the domestication of relevant policies at state level where applicable and inclusion of MMS into essential medicine lists.”
Also Mr Olajimi Afeez of R4D, said they have their projects across different states in the country, all relating to MMS..(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
SA/BRM
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Edited by Bashir Rabe Mnai
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