The Kaduna State Government says it has adopted the National Policy on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MICYN) to address malnutrition among women and children.
Dr Ado Zakari, Director, Medical and Diagnostic Services, Ministry of Health, stated this at the inauguration of a three-day workshop on MIYCN national policy.
Zakari said that although the state government was implementing several plans, strategies, and policies to address the scourge of malnutrition, the MICYN policy would strengthen the interventions.
According to him, the state government is passionate about improving the nutritional status of women and children.
“Therefore, adopting the MICYN policy is a demonstration of the state government commitment to ending all kinds of malnutrition among women and children in the state,” he said.
Ms Hauwa Aliyu, Assistant Nutrition Desk Officer in the ministry, said the objective of the meeting was to agree on key provisions to be articulated, collate, harmonise, to fast track adoptation of the MICYN national policy.
This, according to her, will ensure the nutritional wellbeing of women, infants and young children in the state.
Also, Mrs Chinwe Ezeife, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna, described the development as a milestone in the fight against malnutrition in the state.
Ezeife, represented by Dr Alhassan Halilu, a Nutrition Specialist, said the policy, if adopted, would improve coverage and uptake of nutrition services.
She expressed optimism that the policy would help significantly in improving the livelihood of women and children through improved access to quality maternal, infant and young child nutrition services.
“I am confident that the policy will contribute to the optimal growth and development of children under five years and promote adequate nutrition for adolescent girls and women in the state.
“UNICEF will continue to support Kaduna State Government in its efforts to improve the nutrition indices of children and women in the state,” she said.
The facilitator of the workshop, Dr Zainab Muhammad-Idris, who is also the Project Coordinator, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN), commended the state government for the move.
Muhammad-Idris said that ANRiN, a five-year project, was designed to increase utilisation of quality, cost effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, and children under five years.
The ANRiN project, she said, was developed in line with the key deliverables of the MICYN policy, which provides guidelines for effective delivery of nutrition, curative, and preventive interventions.
According to her, the goal of the policy is to ensure adequate nutrition for the survival, optimal growth and development of every child, adolescent girls and women.
“We have earlier sensitised relevant stakeholders on the national MICYN policy and why Kaduna State needs to adopt it.
“We held another meeting where we carried out a situation analysis of maternal, infant and young child nutrition in the state and today we are beginning the third engagement for the actual adaptation of the policy,” she said. (NAN)
