By Chioma Umeha
A non-governmental initiative, Save the Children,
has lamented the ugly impact of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) with its
complication in the country, noting that it has killed many children in Katsina
State due to non-release of Nutrition Support Funds by some local governments.
Nura Muhammad, the Area Operations Manager of the
initiative, who said this in Katsina, on Monday, explained that Save the
Children and UNICEF support children with malnutrition in 109 Community
Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) centres in 15 local government areas of
the State.
Muhammad said: “ Save the Children and the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) support children with malnutrition in 109
community to manage the condition.
Muhammad also said that each of the benefiting
local government was expected to contribute N250,000 for the purchase of drugs
to children with SAM complications monthly.
According to him, a malnourished child with other
sickness would be admitted at a CMAM centre to cure that particular ailment
first for three-to-five days.
According to him, the child would then be given
the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for eight to 12 weeks depending on
weight of the child.
“If a child is sick and malnourished, it is hard
for him to take food, so, we try to cure his ailment before giving him the
RUTF.
“We do not have drugs for such children; we only
give them RUTF.
“ However, since July 2016, no money has been
released by any of the 15 local councils for that project; consequently, many
children have died because of the non release of the funds,’’ he said.
Save the Children is an international NGO seeking
to promote children’s rights, provides reliefs and supports children in
developing countries.
Katsina state is rated as the second with highest
number of malnourished children in the Northwest zone.
The malnutrition programme was introduced in 2010
and 318,689 children have so far been treated in the State.
