From: Ruth Yarnap Bauchi
The Head of Monitoring and Evaluation of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre,(CISLAC),Mrs Lovelyn Agbor has disclosed that according to National Nutrition health survey 2018, about 361, 000 children die yearly on account of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) which translates to 1000 deaths per day in Nigeria.
She said this on Wednesday in a one day retreat for members of the Gombe state House of Assembly at Chartwell Hotel and Suite, Bauchi state.
According to the National Nutrition and Health Survey of 2018, Nigeria, she added, has 2.6 Million cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition, with the North East, where Gombe State is located, carrying the highest burden of 60 percent of the cases.
The main objective of taking House members away from their comfort zones , she said was to have their undivided attention so they could have a deeper knowledge on the current challenges around SAM in Nigeria and Gombe State in particular and explore avenues to fast track appropriate measures to change the current trend in the State.
Mrs Agbor revealed that maternal under nutrition results in low birth weight which in turn, contributes to high incidences of infant and maternal mortality in Nigeria.
She then appealed to the legislators to emphasise more the preventive approach to addressing SAM challenges in the their state.
In his address, the Speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim, assured CISLAC and other partners of the House’s support towards achieving desired goals and objectives in addressing the menace of SAM.
“As you may be aware, the topmost priority area of our state governor is health, the state House of Assembly has since keyed into this priority area of concern to give it all the necessary support”.
The Speaker also assured of their commitment towards reducing cases of SAM to the barest minimum in the state.