A new report released by UNICEF and the federal government on Monday, August 17, in Abuja showed that about 1.7 million Nigerian children are severely malnourished and in dire need of prompt services to curtail the menace.
According to UNICEF Country Representative, Jean Gough, this accounts for a tenth of the global figure.
“Nearly a thousand Nigerian children die of malnutrition-related causes every day, a total of 361,000 each year. Acute malnutrition also leads to stunting of children, causing life-long physical limitations and can reduce intellectual capacity.
Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) was piloted in Gombe and Kebbi States in 2009 and has now been introduced in 11 northern Nigerian states where malnutrition poses the greatest threat. We must scale-up CMAM in Nigeria. It is a proven high-impact intervention that is saving lives and is helping Nigerian children reach their full potential through a good start in life.We need greater investment in Nigeria’s future by investing in good nutrition,” she said.
This came as UNICEF and the Nigerian government announced that “they have reached more than a million Nigerian children with a highly successful and cost-effective treatment for acutely malnorishment, saving over 200,000 lives in the past six years.”
Speaking on the report, UNICEF Chief of Nutrition, Arjan de Wagt, said about 10 per cent of global malnutrition population is in Nigeria, adding that 11 northern states are worst hit and they include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute, explained that the Nigerian government is committed to reaching more children with CMAM.
“We cannot accept to see Nigerian children continue to die of malnutrition and that our potential future leaders should be diminished by its effects,” he said.
