Segun Babatunde in Bauchi
Bauchi State House of Assembly(BAHA) has pledged to contribute a certain amount from the allowance of its members to complement government’s effort in the procurement of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the benefit of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition(SAM) across the state.
The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Sulaiman made the announcement yesterday shortly after an on the spot visit to Miri Centre for the Management of Acute Malnutrition(CMAM) as part of the Interface Session on Severe Acute Malnutrition in Bauchi, organized by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH).
Hon. Abubakar Sulaiman who expressed sympathy over the condition of Malnourished children in the state, stressed the need for the executive arm of government to establish two CMAM sites in all the 20 local government areas of the state, in addition to the existing ones.
The speaker who expressed worry that the RUTF available at the Miri CMAM site was getting out of stock, called on the agency responsible for its supply to be consistent in doing so to all the existing CMAM facilities across the state for the benefit of the Malnourished children.
In a remark, the Senior Programme Manager, ISMPH, Mr. Soloman Dogo, announced that the Advocacy Consortium in Nigeria has crowned the Speaker,Hon. Abubakar Sulaiman as Nutrition Champion for his ardent commitment in the sector.
While presenting the 2020 first and second quarter update of Malnutrition in the state, the State Deputy Nutrition Officer, Abubakar Saleh said the total admission recorded in the period under review were 13,243, new Severe Acute Malnutrition stand at 8,345 out of which 4,358 were cured, 178 defaulted, 37 non recovered, 18 died, 36 were referred to secondary facilities, while 35,170 were receiving Micro Nutrient Powder.
The Director Technical Cooperation and Donor Coordination in the State Ministry for Budget and Planning, Jibril Mohammed Yusuf advised that instead of focusing attention to the curative aspect of Malnutrition, there was also need to consider the preventive aspect.
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