15th November, 2018
The Nasarawa State Government has called for collective action against the challenge of malnutrition among children in the country.
Mr Bulus Amoye, the Chairman of the state Committee on Food and Nutrition, made the appeal during the quarterly meeting of the committee in Keffi on Thursday.
Amoye, who is also the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, said that the meeting was aimed at discussing strategies at improving nutrition and reducing malnutrition.
He said this could be achieved through effective coordination of activities of all nutrition actors in the state and at the local government level.
He explained that the meeting was meant to rationalise and mobilise activities and resources for scaling up nutrition in the state.
“The Nasarawa State Government is committed towards addressing the challenges of malnutrition among children in the state in order to improve on their health status and for the overall development of the state and the country at large.
“The state government is also doing its best in improving on the nutrition need of children in the state,” he said.
Amoye also urged parents to give adequate attention to the nutrition needs of their children in order to complement government efforts in that direction.
Besides, the chairman called on nutrition partners in the state to work toward improving the nutrition needs of children.
“I will appeal to parents and other citizens to always maintain hygiene in the interest of their health and that of their children so as to complement government efforts in tackling challenges of malnutrition among children in the state.
“Let us continue to keep our environment clean. The hygiene condition of our environment is very important as it will go a long way in improving on our health status,” he said.
The permanent secretary renewed the state government commitment to continue to initiate good health policies and programmes that have direct bearing on the nutritional needs of the children in order to improve on their standard of living.
Dr Ibrahim Adamu, the Director, Public Health, state Ministry of Health, stressed the need for preventive measures against malnutrition in the state.
Adamu said if parents and other citizens take precautionary measures against malnutrition, it would go a long way in boosting the health and standard of living of the people, especially that of children.
The meeting brought together the committee members, including the Director of Planning, state Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, Mr Isah Abdul.