FG notes that 2.5m Nigerian Children Malnourished

FG notes that 2.5m Nigerian Children Malnourished

The Federal Government says 2.5 million Nigerian children under the age of 5 years are suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).

The observation was made by Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning at flag-off of the 2020 Nigeria nutrition week in Abuja yesterday.

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He said “despite concerted efforts by the government in recent years, particularly in the areas of child nutrition and breastfeeding, malnutrition (and other public health issues) has remained a challenge”.

He stated that this challenge “must be addressed through the implementation of innovative policies and strategies that are appropriately funded, data-driven, sustainable and optimized in terms of transparency and accountability for the efforts to yield the desired results.”

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And government “must also continue to work collaboratively across all levels of governments and hand-in-hand with the private sector and development partners in this regard.”

He lamented that Nigeria’s food and nutrition situation and the attendant poor global image in terms of economic and development milestones are major concerns to the federal government.

This development he said has forced government to create a week-long “Nutrition Campaign Week” as a platform to mobilize nutrition stakeholders towards addressing the challenge of malnutrition, which has been termed “the silent killer”

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Nigeria, he said, has shown a clear commitment to the eradication of malnutrition through the adoption and domestication of policies and strategic plans.

 

 

 

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