FG Moves To Tackle Malnutrition In Borno

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole

The Federal Government on Monday  directed the National Centre for Disease Control to  send  “a rapid emergency team” to Borno State  following the reports that about eight children might  die daily as a result of malnutrition in the state.

The Punch report continues:

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, gave the directive to the Director-General of NCDC, Prof. Abdusalami Nasidi, during the opening ceremony and inaugural meeting of the governing board of the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Control.

He said, “There is a nutritional emergency in Borno State where it has been reported that eight children stand the risk of dying every day if nothing is done to arrest the situation. President Muhammadu Buhari has given a directive and so this is my first assignment to you. There is a need to send an emergency team to Borno State.”

Adewole said the decision to establish the RCDC in Nigeria was reached following the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa.

The minister said, “The outbreak exposed the weaknesses in our health systems and indicated a lack of readiness to respond effectively to EVD or any other serious health security threat in line with the core capacities outlined by the international health regulations.

“Since 2015, other significant new threats such as Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever and Zika Virus outbreaks, have been experienced in the region. Nigeria’s role in curtailing the spread of these diseases in our region is acknowledged by ECOWAS’ decision to site the RCDC here.”

According to him, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the Federal Government, the West Africa Health Organization and the NCDC on the actualization of the ECOWAS RCDC.

Meanwhile, the Gombe State Government has called on the people of the state to eat balanced diet to combat malnutrition.

The call was made by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Dahiru Biri, on Monday when the Save the Children International and the Maternal Neonatal Child Health Coalition in the state paid him a visit.

The coalition paid the visit to appeal for timely release of funds by the state to confront malnutrition among children.

Biri, who described malnutrition as a major problem in developing countries, said the problem of malnutrition, especially in rural areas, was not that of extreme poverty but a lack adequate education or enlightenment.