BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
THE Federal Government, on Monday, said about 2.5 million Nigerian children were currently suffering from acute malnutrition.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, said this at the flag-off of the 2020 Nigeria nutrition week in Abuja on Monday.
This figure places Nigeria as the country with the second highest number of stunted children in the world.
The minister noted that despite concerted efforts by the government in recent years, particularly in the areas of child nutrition and breastfeeding, malnutrition and other public health issues had remained a challenge.
He said this challenge must be addressed through the implementation of innovative policies and strategies that are appropriately funded, data-driven, sustainable and optimised.
In addition, he said government must also continue to work collaboratively across all levels, and hand-in-hand with the private sector and development partners, in this regard.
He lamented that Nigeria’s food and nutrition situation and the attendant poor global image, in terms of economic and development milestones, were major concerns to the Federal Government.
This development, he said, had forced government to create a platform to mobilise nutrition stakeholders towards addressing the challenge of malnutrition, which had been termed “the silent killer”.
The platform is a week-long “Nutrition Campaign Week.”
Nigeria, he said, had shown a clear commitment to the eradication of malnutrition through the adoption and domestication of policies and costed strategic plans.
This, according to the minister, emphasises increased reliance on domestic funding; and a well-coordinated multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholders’ approach backed by sustained high-level political commitment.
