2.8m children pregnant/lactating women in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe need preventative nutrition services—-UNICEF

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

The United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF) Chief of Borno Field Office, Dr. Tushar Rane, said

approximately 2.8 million children under five and pregnant and lactating women (PLWs) are in need of preventative nutrition

services.

Rane stated this on Tuesday, in Borno, during child malnutrition media dialogue and capacity building for journalists to commemorate world humanitarian day.

He said if they are not provided with quality preventative services,

approximately 1.7 million boys, girls, women, and adolescents across in the

BAY states are likely to be affected by acute malnutrition in 2024, including 206,779 pregnant and lactating women are expected to suffer acute malnutrition.

“According to the 2023 lean season Nutrition and Food Security Surveillance (NFSS) Round 13 conducted across the BAY states, the

prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) among children under 5

years in Borno is 10.2%, 8.0% in Yobe and 4.0% in Adamawa. This

also means that an estimated 511,807 children under five suffer from Sever Acute Malnutrition annually, requiring urgent interventions to save their lives.”

He said UNICEF is the lead partner for the Nutrition Sector, adding that there are 46 partners (14 international non- governmental organizations

(INGOS) and 32 national non-governmental organizations (NNGOs)), as well as 2 observers (MSF and ICRC), supporting nutrition activities in the states alongside other UN agencies.

“Nutrition programmes are integrated within government health facilities where there are 765 outpatient treatment programme (OTP) sites in the BAY states providing treatment for children with SAM without medical complications, and 50 Stabilization Centers (SCs)

treating SAM with medical complications. Only 63% of the 714 wards in the BAY states provide nutrition services.

“With support from UNICEF and donors such as the United Kingdom Government (UKAid) and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ),

(BMZ), among other donors

Government across the BAY states are currently supporting 4,383 child nutrition mobilisers (CNMS) supporting malnutrition screening at the

community levels. The CNMs are an important link in the nutrition

system. They reinforce nutrition best practices in the communities and, from house to house, they build the capacity of mothers to screen their children.

“With the collaborative efforts of government and all partners,

over460,000 children were treated for acute malnutrition across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, during 2023. That is 37 per cent increase over the coverage for same period in 2022.”

He said besides supporting CNMs and the provision of nutrition supplies to 765 OTPs and 50 SCs across northeast Nigeria,

UNICEF has been supporting the government to pilot a few holistic

programmes to address child malnutrition.

“Across the BAY states, UNICEF and the Borno State Primary Health Care Board are adopting a proactive screening approach to identify children with SAM. Across northeast Nigeria, the family approach to malnutrition screening has led to the empowerment of more than

100,000 caregivers to screen and identify children with acute

malnutrition. Mothers play a crucial role and contribute to promoting the health of their children to ensure proper growth and development.

“The aim of the family screening approach is to shorten the

identification, referral and treatment gap and also train caregivers to provide household screening for their children, using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape.

UNICEF is excited that this approach is already yielding results. In Banki, a community in Borno State, more than I in 4 children (30%) receiving acute malnutrition treatment are identified through the

family screening approach. The family approach is a game changer leading to prompt and early identification of children with acute malnutrition than in previous years.

“Similarly, UNICEF has initiated the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) with the Government across the northeast and signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with them for this purpose. The CNF is an alternative financing mechanism to address child malnutrition.

“The MoU will tackle the problem of malnutrition among children less than 5 years old as well as pregnant and lactating women through the provision of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). The main beneficiaries will be children 0 – 59 months as well as pregnant and lactating/breastfeeding women. The Borno State Government has

committed the sum of $100,000 counterpart funding to match UNICEF’s contribution in the same sum to the purse.”