The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has vowed to partner with the Kano State government in fighting malnutrition in the state, News About Nigeria reports.
The UNICEF Kano Field Office Nutrition Specialist, Oluniyi Oyedokun, disclosed this while speaking during the opening ceremony of a two-day stakeholders’ inception meeting on the scale-up of multiple micronutrient supplements in Kano State.
He noted that the organisation is committed to tackling anaemia in pregnancy in the state.
He commended the Kano state governor, Abba Yusuf, for approving the immediate release of N500 million to procure ready-to-use therapeutic foods for the management of severe acute malnutrition among children under the age of five years, adding that UNICEF will release the sum of N500 million as a matching grant through the Child Nutritional Fund.
He described MMS as an essential and effective intervention for anaemia reduction and improved pregnancy outcomes globally.
Oluniyi further urged all stakeholders to view the prevention of anaemia in pregnancy holistically, from the perspective of social and behavioural change, creating an enabling environment for MMS acceptability and intervention, and the roles the government and policymakers should play in preventing anaemia among pregnant women.
“Policymakers should know that MMS is very important. The government should make haste to release funds for the procurement of MMS to save the lives of pregnant women and the generations unborn,” he stated.
He also disclosed that the MMS scale-up project in Kano State is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pointing out that only five states in Nigeria, including Kano, are currently benefiting from the project.
