Kano state House of Assembly has flagged off the process to confront the threat caused by hunger and malnutrition across the state.
The speaker of the House of Assembly, Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa, said malnutrition “constitutes a challenge that should be squarely and urgently addressed,” adding that the role of nutritionists in the development of the state “cannot be overemphasised.”
This was contained in a press statement issued in Kano on Friday.
It indicated that the speaker in a keynote address, delivered by the majority leader, Kabiru Hassan Dashi, said, “Much needs to be done in our health system, especially in the area of addressing the issues of hunger and malnutrition in our neighborhoods.
“The House of Assembly will relentlessly do more towards improving budgetary allocations on nutrition, as well as timely release of funds. We had the opportunity in the period under review to have budgeted over N4.5 billion through massive investment in scaling up impact and cost effective nutrition interventions to reduce the multiple burdens of malnutrition in the state.”
In his welcome address, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Planning/Budget and chairman, Kano state Nutrition Committee, Balarabe Hassan Karaye, said the meeting was aimed at creating a common understanding of the importance of investing on nutrition in the state.
He said the state “is in urgent need to scale up nutrition to tackle the pervasive problem of malnutrition,” adding that the immediate initiation of the process of adequate investment on nutrition to forestall the danger confronting children who are under-5.
