The Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA), Mr Suleiman Abubakar, has said that the Assembly would scale up the Centres for the Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) in the state.
Abubakar made this disclosure at a one-day ‘Nutrition Stakeholders’ meeting held on Thursday in Bauchi.
According to him, the centres, which are presently 21, will be 49 at the end of the scaling.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by the Aisha Buhari Foundation with a theme: ‘Uniting to End Malnutrition’.
He said that legislators would carry out an oversight function to further curtail the menace.
‘If there is a problem in the release of funds for nutrition, the Chairman, House Committee on Health will be contacted.
‘The Assembly will legislate for additional CMAM centres from 21 to 40 to address malnutrition in the state.
In his contribution, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Gamawa, advised nutrition stakeholders to adopt a multi sectoral approach so as to end Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in the state.
Gamawa said that the Local Government Councils (LGCs) should embrace SAM activities for better results.
According to him, high cases of SAM were identified in grassroots, hence the need for a multi sectoral approach.
“The issue of nutrition is multi sectoral in the budget process, it could be in other ministries and not just in health alone.
“Damage by malnutrition is irreversible,” he said.
Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, the Executive Secretary, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the LGCs to provide logistics for transporting the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
Earlier, an official of the Aisha Buhari Foundation, Dr Fatima Jibrila, said that the objective of the meeting was to strengthen, coordinate and address the problems of nutrition and additional financing. (NAN)
