94 children die of malnutrition in Kaduna


Kaduna state has lost 94 children below the age of five to malnutrition out of 15, 842 new cases of malnutrition recorded in the state between January and June 2020, the assistant state nutrition officer has said.
Addressing a meeting organised by Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), in Kaduna to review its 2020 work plan in response to COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Adams George, in his report on the current nutrition situation in Kaduna state, said that 11,328 children suffering malnutrition have been treated. 


George, who stated that the state government was doing all it can to curb the disease, pointed out that while malnourished children were being treated at various Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) sites, preventive measures under the Community Infant and Young Child Feeding (C-IYCF) were also being implemented.
He said that so far, 18,523 pregnant women, 16,057 mothers of children below six months and 15,564 mothers of children from six to 23 months have been reached with C-IYCF messages. “No fewer than 12,574 women of childbearing age, 8,292 grand mothers and 4,619 men were also reached with IYCF messages.”


George called on CS-SUNN and other development partners to continue to support the government in reducing maternal and child mortality by addressing the scourge of malnutrition in the state.  
The Kaduna state CS-SUNN Coordinator, Mr Silas Ideva, reiterated the organisation’s support to strengthen the state response to the scourge of malnutrition, particularly with the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Ideva, who lamented the “disturbing  development”, urged Kaduna state government to act fast to save the affected children from preventable death and insulate healthy children from becoming malnourished. 


He said CS-SUNN was on ground to support the implementation of high impact and result driven interventions to curb the trend of malnutrition in the state.

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