REPORTER: AMECHI ODO
Ebonyi State government is to commence the distribution of Lipid Based Nutrient Supplement to tackle rising cases of severe acute malnutrition, stunting and underweight among under five year children in the area.
This followed the handover of about two thousand eight hundred cartons of the supplement by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF at Government House Abakaliki.
Correspondent Amechi Odo reports that the Deputy Governor of the State Princess Patricia Obila received the supplement on behalf of the State Government.
The 2024, National Demographic and Health Survey indicates that approximately forty percent of Nigerian Children under five years are stunted which is an indication of chronic undernutrition.
Down to Ebonyi, the situation is worse as the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Moses Ekuma revealed that six point five percent of children under five in the area suffer from severe acute malnutrition, thirty one point six percent stunted while twenty two point four percent are underweight.
He pointed out that the Small Quantity Lipid Based Nutrient Supplement would be a game changer as it would fast track healthy growth, brain development and lifelong resistance against childhood illnesses.
The Chief of UNICEF Enugu Field Office, Mrs Juliet Chiluwe explained that the handover was a product of Child Nutrition Match Fund Project, a co-financing mechanism that promotes shared responsibility between the government, UNICEF and Development Partners in the fight against child malnutrition.
The Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Princess Patricia Obila who stood in for Governor Francis Nwifuru during the handover event explained that the State government invested One hundred and fifty Million Naira into the Child Nutrition Match Fund Project and declared the administration’s readiness to collaborate with Local Government Chairmen to end malnutrition in the area.
Radio Nigeria gathered that the state government would first train caregivers and other personnel that would administer the supplement to targeted children.
