Chioma Umeha
The Lagos State Committee on Food and Nutrition in
conjunction with Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) have
domesticated the National Policy on Food and Nutrition to Lagos specific.
Speaking during the opening remark of the
validation meeting of the Lagos State Specific Plan on Food and Nutrition
(SSPFN) and State Multi-Sectorial Plan of Action for Nutrition (SMSPAN), Mr
Shola Fadorun, representing the State’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economy Planning and Budget,
Abayomi Adebisi Kadiri said malnutrition is a key health challenge in the
State.
He said the validated policy will serve as a direction
for the execution of programmes and projects that will address nutrition
matters in the State.
Kadiri said the main objective of the validation
exercise is to cross the‘t’s, dot the ‘I’s and confirm the data referred to in
the document, adding that the exercise will address the cross cutting issues
among the lines Ministry, Department and Agencies, (MDAs).
Giving further insights, he said that the
domesticated policy document is accompanied with strategic five-year costed
work plan that will be used as a guide in the execution of Food and Nutrition
programmes in the State by harnessing available resources from Government
budgets, as well as from development partners to support a harmonized,
strategic and costed work plan for effective implementation.
He said malnutrition is widespread in the entire
country, although the scale and scope varies between regions and states, adding
that it manifests mainly as under nutrition, over nutrition and micronutrient
deficiencies.
According to the Permanent Secretary, “reducing
malnutrition is an important goal of development, since malnutrition not only
slows down development, it directly leads to morbidity and mortality.
A member of the Board of Trustee, CS-SUNN, Dr.
Phillipa Momah said the vision of the organization as well as its mission is to
mobilize facilities and scale up nutrition across board in the country.
Expressing her gratitude and appreciation to all
that made it to the program, Momah said CS-SUNN is looking forward to seeing an
improved food security in the country, reduce under nutrition among infants,
children and adolescents in the country.
Making his presentation, the Project Manager of
CS-SUNN Mr Sunday Okoronkwo said “every
single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under five year’s and 145 women of child
bearing age. This makes the country the second largest contributor to the under
five and maternity mortality rate and the cause is malnutrition.”
Okoronkwo added that those children who survive
malnutrition often become stunted. Stunting is the major indicator used to
measure childhood malnutrition.
Malnutrition comes in different form.
“Stunting: too short for the age (chronic
malnutrition).Wasting: too thin for their age (Acute malnutrition). Obesity:
overweight.
“When a child don’t get the required EBF, that
child will be malnourished when compared to a child that has 100 percent EBF”,
Okoronkwo explained.
He further said that a child with stunted growth will
not be able to achieve potentials, adding that in Lagos State, wasting is now a
serious issue and something need to be done stressing that the basic causes of
malnutrition include: economic structure, lack of food, inadequate care for
children, insufficient health service and unhealthy environment, diseases which
can lead to malnutrition.
CS-SUNN’s Project Manager said that some of the
causes are interconnected and the fight against malnutrition is a fight for
all, hence all need to invest to prevent under nutrition, build human capital,
boost shared prosperity and improve health outcomes.
He added that there is need for team work as the
team movement recognizes this fact and also individual support are needed.
He stated that, “the policy of malnutrition was
launched in 2013 and it is a key challenge in Lagos state. The guiding
principle of the State policy for food and nutrition include is reduction of
malnutrition through SUN activities with high impact and low cost intervention,
recognition of nutrition as a developmental issue and incorporating food and
nutrition consideration into development plans at all levels of government
amongst others.
“The strategic objective includes reducing
micronutrient deficiency disorder in the country. Our target is to reduce the proportion of
people who suffer hunger and malnutrition by 50 percent by 2025.”
The Lagos State Team Lead of Alive and Thrive, Dr
Uche Ralph- Opara commended the partnership and support of all stakeholders, with hope that the team
can translate the plans to action in order to achieve a great Nigeria.
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