The Pediatrics Consultant of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Prof. Garba Mohammed Ashir; has said that to fight malnutrition among children; life cycle and multi-sectoral approaches be adopted by Governments, donors and UN agencies. According to him, partnership with Governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is key in combating malnutrition among children and their mothers. Ashir spoke at the weekend in Maiduguri, while presenting a paper titled: “The Cost of Malnutrition and Potential Cost Savings Interventions,” at a media dialogue on child malnutrition reporting in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. “The high level of food insecurity poses a challenge to complementary feeding practices in insurgency affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY). He declared that when prevention of malnutrition fails, health workers and communities should adopt preventive measures and treatments.
“The affected households, communities and institutions are also to be supported by Governments,” he said. He added that UN agencies and donor partners could complement Government efforts of saving the lives of children from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). On the challenges of fighting malnutrition, Prof. Ashir said: “There is low funding caused by donor countries reallocating human and capital resources to combat COVID-19 pandemic in the country.” He noted that the prolonged changes in socio-cultural beliefs and behaviours on nutrition; could also lead to more malnourishment related to ill health and deaths. He lamented that conflict, displacement, loss of livelihoods and the destruction of infrastructure and services fuel malnutrition globally.
