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Malnutrition kills 29 children in Gombe State

By Auwal Ahmad (Gombe) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri)
27 November 2019   |   4:16 am
No fewer than 29 children died from malnutrition in Gombe State between January and October 2019 while on treatment at Community Management for Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) Centres in the state.

• Borno prioritises food supply, security, jobs creation for 2020
No fewer than 29 children died from malnutrition in Gombe State between January and October 2019 while on treatment at Community Management for Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) Centres in the state.

State Coordinator of Accelerated Nutrition result in Nigeria (ANriN), Sulaiman Mamman, stated this at the Stakeholders’ Policy Dialogue on Prevention and Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition as a Child Right Issue organised by CISLAC and the Aisha Buhari Foundation in Gombe yesterday.

Mamman said from January to October 2019, about 5,029 malnourished children in the 18 CMAM Centres in four local government areas of the state, admitted of which 2,123 were treated and discharged.

He said 273 children defaulted and were unable to continue with treatment for reasons best known to their parents and 29 children died while on treatment.

Also speaking, Chairman, Gombe State House of Assembly Committee on Appropriation, Aliyu Usman Baba Manu expressed concern over the issue of Malnutrition and Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM) children in the state, saying the House was working towards ensuring that the issue gets the needed attention and adequate funding for elimination of the problem in the state.

Speaking, CISLAC’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer, Lovelyn Agbor-Gabriel, disclosed that it was expected that meeting would address the issue of timely release of funds for nutrition and increase opportunities for investment to scale-up CMAM in the state.

Meanwhile, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has hinted that he would prioritise security, jobs creation and food supply next year to overcome root causes and challenges of Boko Haram insurgency.

He said government’s targets in these areas would be met with the implementation of 10-point agenda in 2020.

Zulum disclosed this yesterday in Maiduguri, while receiving the state’s council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) award for most promising first term governor in the country.

He said the nexus between peace and security was paramount to the socio-economic development processes of various sectors of the economy.

“The third most important thing; is the creation of more jobs, education and empowerment of over 105, 000 orphans and widows,” he said.

He added that while implementing the 10-point agenda, government would focus more on sustainable food supply and job creation to address unemployment and food supply to tackle hunger among the people.

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