The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended the Jigawa Government for adopting unique strategies to address child malnutrition in the state.

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The Chief of Nutrition, UNICEF Nigeria, Nemat Hajeebhoy, gave the commendation on Wednesday in Dutse when she visited the Permanent Secretary, of the Jigawa Ministry of Health, Dr Kabir Ibrahim.

Hajeebhoy noted the various measures taken by the state government to control malnutrition among children and mothers and hailed the Masaki and integrated health system programmes aimed at reducing malnutrition.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Jigawa Masaki Programme focuses on malnutrition prevention, where trained community health workers were deployed to local areas across the state to implement the community nutrition programme.

Hajeebhoy, therefore, urged other states to emulate the Jigawa model in addressing the menace, while encouraging the state to sustain the tempo.

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Responding, the permanent secretary acknowledged the intervention provided by UNICEF and pledged the state government’s readiness to upscale best practices.

He said that the Masaki intervention is a 100 per cent initiative of the state government, noting, however, that inadequate funding was affecting operations, especially in storing nutritional baby foods.

The permanent secretary, however, commended the media, civil society and state legislature for ensuring transparency and accountability, saying that nutrition intervention and running of health facilities have
their challenges too.

The UNICEF team later visited Tisa Masaki, a community nutrition initiative, Sakwaya Primary

Health Care Centre and the Dutse General Hospital to assess dieting services offered to children and mothers.

They also rendered immediate services to the people.

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