The Kano state government has restated commitment to curb anaemia through quality reproductive healthcare service delivery.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran said this at a two-day stakeholders’ inception meeting, on Friday in Kaduna.
The exercise was being organised by the UNICEF, to scale-up Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) in Kano State.
Represented by the acting Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Shehu Sani, Labaran said the state government was passionate about women and children’s overall wellbeing.
He said the meeting would help to overcome challenges of anaemia and malnutrition, adding the state government had contributed N500 million to the UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Match, to facilitate procurement of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
The Director-General, Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr Nasir Mahmood said the intervention would reduce infant and maternal mortality rate in the state.
Mahmood, who was represented by the Director, Family Health Services in the Board, Dr Tijjani Habibu, commended the UNICEF and other development partners for their resilience towards ensuring that Kano benefit substantially from the intervention.
He said the exercise would provide platform to achieve the objectives of ensuring quality reproductive and family health in the state.
In a paper presentation entitled: “Nutrition Landscape Situation in Kano,” Dr Imam Bello, decried spate of malnutrition among pregnant women and under-five children in the state.
“We always preach exclusive breast feeding, but the question is, where will the nourished milk come from if the nursing mother is anaemic,” he said.
He said the intervention was crucial combat anaemia and improve pregnancy outcomes.
Also speaking, UNICEF’s Nutrition Specialist, Kano Field Office, Oluniyi Oyedokun, lauded Gov. Abba Kabir-Yusuf for the release of N500 million matching grant for management of severe acute malnutrition.
While calling for prompt release of funds for the procurement of RUTF, to save more lives, Oyedokun urged stakeholders to look at the prevention of anaemia in pregnancy holistically, from the perspective of social behavioural change.
According to him, the scale up project is being implemented with support of tBill and Melinda Gates Foundation in five states across the country.
NAN
