The Enugu State Government says it has approved a counterpart fund for value-added foods to treat and check under-nutrition and hindered growth in all children in the state.
“The value-added nutritious food is for children from zero to 59 months”, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi said on Thursday in Enugu. Ugwuanyi, represented by his deputy, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, said this while declaring open a one-day High-Level Partnership and Coordination Meeting with Stakeholders and Policy Makers on Investment in Nutrition.
The theme of the meeting is: “Prioritizing Investment in Maternal, Infant, Young Child and Adolescent Nutrition”.
He said that the growing level of stunt growth, which is getting about one to every five children, must be checked. He said the government remained fully committed to doing that.
According to him, the state government will shore up the nutritional needs of children under-five and this will further curtail infant mortality to the barest minimum in the state.
“The state government is grateful to UNICEF, other international and local health partners, as well as other stakeholders in ensuring that the state gets it right and rank among the states with the highest well-fed and well-nourished children in the country,” he said.
Speaking, Mrs. Juliet Chiluwe, Chief of Field Office UNICEF Enugu, noted that the organization was committed to partnering with Enugu State and with other relevant partners and stakeholders to achieve the agenda of well-fed and healthy children.
Chiluwe noted that the meeting offered an opportunity for awareness creation and high-level advocacy on the importance of nutrition to the survival and general well-being of women and children, as well as its impact on productivity, economic growth, and national development.
“The event is very strategic as policymakers from the state and LGAs, relevant federal stakeholders, and the private sector is present to reinforce government support for the state to expand the scope of the nutrition program.
“This program, which has been at the three pilots LGAs since 2019, rolled out planned strategies and community innovations to tackle nutrition issues, especially in the first 1000 days, with expectations of breaking the inter-generational cycle of under-nutrition within Enugu State.
“Available evidence shows that getting the right nutrients at the right time is critical.
“Enugu State has stunting (growth) rate of 15 percent, approximately 147,816 children are shorter than expected height for their age, with associated poor cognitive functions,” she noted.
In a goodwill message, Chief John Uruakpa, Director, Head Micronutrients Deficiency Control in the Federal Ministry of Health, commended Enugu State Government for creating a functional multi-sectoral stakeholders committee on food and nutrition.
Uruakpa noted that “countries are rated according to their ability to feed their citizens and ensure that they are healthy to enhance national optimal health and productivity”.
“The issue of tackling malnutrition under-nutrition and stunt growth must be taken seriously. “There is a need for the coordination of stakeholders and we should take this advocacy to the rural communities and primary healthcare centers,” he said
The Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Dr. David Ugwunta, said that the high-level meeting was to identify opportunities and challenges in fighting the under-nutrition of children.
Source: Vanguard