Alive and Thrive, a global nutrition initiative, in collaboration with the Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Board (SPHCB), has taken bold step towards boosting support for Multiple Micronutrients Supplement (MMS) logistics and supply to the last mile.
This, was evident as Alive & Thrive on Friday in Kaduna, sensitised Ward Development Committees (WDCs), Nutrition Forcal Persons (NFPs) and representatives of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), for their buy-in and support for the cause, aimed at improving maternal and child health.
MMS is a once-a-day pill of critical micronutrients containing between 13-15 essential vitamins and minerals for pregnant and nursing women, meeting micronutrient requirements that poor diets cannot meet.
The State Coordinator of Alive & Thrive in Kaduna, Mrs Sarah Kwasu, said nearly half of all under-five mortality wad caused by underlying maternal and child undernutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies.
Kwasu said the high prevalence of anaemia in women of reproductive age and pregnant women in Nigeria was a significant public health problem.
He said,”This is because of its negative consequences for pregnancy outcome and its impact on maternal mortality.
“In addition to anaemia, deficiencies such as vitamin A, zinc, vitamin B1, iodine, and folate are also widespread in Nigeria and have a negative impact on pregnancy outcome.”
She, therefore, said improvements in the natural diet and behavioral change were difficult to achieve over a short time span for populations in resource-constrained countries.
“Combining all micronutrients in a multi-supplement and delivery of a multiple micronutrient supplement to women in targeted groups is more programmatically feasible and should be embraced.
“Over the past five decades, iron and folic acid supplementation has become a core component of antenatal care for pregnant women around the globe.
“However, more than 20 years of research provided clear evidence that multiple micronutrient supplementation is more effective than iron and folic acid supplementation in preventing adverse birth outcomes”she said.
She said that MMS was a safe, efficacious, affordable, and cost-effective intervention to improve maternal nutrition.
Kwasu added that babies born to mothers suffering from undernutrition and anaemia were more likely to be born with low birth weight, increasing their chances of developmental delays.
“Making MMS available to all women in Nigeria can act as a social equalizer by offering all pregnant women the same standard of care.
“Diets of women in developing countries are lacking in a wide variety of micronutrients, with potential to endanger pregnancy process and outcome,”she said.
Kwasu, therefore, emphasised the role of WDCs Chairmen in supporting primary health care revitalisation, engaging community leaders to monitor pregnant women, and advocating dedicated funding for logistics to bring MMS to health facilities.
She said the WDCs were expected to visit PHCs to ensure there is no stockout of vital medicines, including MMS, and encourage proper documentation of MMS utilisation at facility level for decision-making.
“WDCs are also expected to support PHC revitalisation in their LGAs, ensuring they are fully operational with required staff, infrastructure, and supplies, including provision of MMS,” she said.
The state’s Logistics Officer for Nutrition Programme, Mrs Halima Ibrahim said they would ensure the successful MMS distribution to the health facilities, following the right logistics channels.
Also, the Quality Assurance Officer for Kaduna State Emergency Nutrition Action Plan, Jibril Isa said that the engagement was to ensure that all the nutrition services in the state had the support of the communites.
Isa stated that the WDCs would support logistics supply to the last mile distributions and mobilise communities to ensure MMS distribution at health facilities.
He added that the WDCs would also monitor health facilities to ensure quality services were provided, checking if facilities were delivering services or not, as part of their role in supporting MMS implementation.
Isa advised NFPs to be accountable for distributed items, by showing WDCs what was distributed to health facilities and ensuring WDCs understand what is available in the community.
The Chairman of WDCs in Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Jaji, said WDCs wanted a clear mandate to operate effectively.
Jaji said WDCs have members in all political wards, where they ensure health and education sectors meet their responsibilities and bringing information from communities to hospitals, schools and vice versa.
He restated the WDCs commitment to doing the right thing, by bridging the gap between community and government, while urging members to avoid overstepping boundaries, but to work for the benefit of the people and government.
The ALGON Desk Officer at the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs (MLGCA), Emmanuel Anche, emphasised that the ministry was concerned about interventions affecting the well-being of women and children.
He stated the MLGCA’s commitment towards providing support to WDCs and increased funding for nutrition at the LGA level, thereby ensuring effective health and nutrition interventions.
In a goodwill message, the Communications Officer of Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, Mairo Tahir said their mandate was providing basic nutrition services to vulnerable groups, including children under five and pregnant women.
She commended Alive & Thrive and the SPHCB for organising the meeting, saying that MMS would prevent malnutrition from a child’s first 1000 days, and hoped that WDCs will create awareness among men to support their women in accepting MMS.
Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Chinwe Ezeife made a presentation on MMS in the upcoming first round of 2025 Maternal and Neonatal Child Health (MNCH) week implementation.
She urged all the stakeholders to support the effective implementation MMS during the MNCH week, ensuring its availability and accessibility to all pregnant women, to improve maternal and child health outcomes.
NAN
