UNICEF Tasks Bauchi Lawmakers On Funding Child Nutrition As Part Of Constituency Project

BAUCHI – Lawmakers in the Bauchi State House of Assembly has been called upon to commit themselves to make child Nutrition funding part of their constituency project in order to address the problem of malnutrition in children in the state.

The Chief of Bauchi Field Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, made the call while addressing the lawmakers on Adequate budgetary Appropriation for Nutrition Intervention during a two day Advocacy and Sensitization meeting that held in Jos, Plateau state.

She said that the child Nutrition Fund is an initiative designed to support government efforts in some countries that carry the highest number of children suffering from the problem of malnutrition, adding that Nigeria is one of the countries where there are high number of malnourished chidren because of it’s large population.

According to her, CNF is an initiative that give state governments in the country the ownership of funding nutrition through a counterpart funding to match UNICEF contribution in the same sum to the basket fund.

‘If you put N100 million, we will match N100 million, so N200 million will reach the children. We work on prevention, cure and rehabilitation of the children under nutrition to help set up a society where no child should suffer from malnutrition. Children suffering so much from malnutrition can be rehabilitated, so this is so sensitive and I will like all of you to feel from the heart. You have to be fathers to children in your constituencies, literally this is your accountability.

“So the most important thing is to start thinking of how much you can commit. So what I suggest if I was in your place, with the support from UNICEF, you can identify in your constituencies where the highest number of malnourished children are. You should go around and see things for yourself, we have the data for Bauchi state and it is one of the worst state suffering from malnutrition.

“I am sorry to say in my experience of 12 countries, what I saw in the health facility in front of me, they had the audacity to cut the date and change it from November to December and showed the number of patients they carried out hemoglobin level test. From 1st to 29th November, then 28th November became 28th December because it was on the 28th December of that year when I visited the health facility during the Maternal Newborn Health PHC week.

“I asked one of the healthcare providers if they have done the hemoglobin level test because maternal nutrition is very important in determining a child’s nutrition. I further asked them if they have distributed Multiple Micronutrients supplements (MMS) during antenatal sessions and they yes they do it in the health facility.

“The healthcare provider now went inside the health facility and took about 15 minutes and she decided what to do along with her colleagues. Later they brought back the register with 28th November changed to 28th December, that was very smart of them, but luckily, I was more smarter than them.

“I told them that this is even worse if they had said that they have not done it, it is okay if they had said that we don’t have the hemoglobin level test record, I will help them and build their capacity, but for them to do this, it goes a long way as a crime, it is wrong in terms of religion, you can testify that somebody is wrong intentionally. Everything we do for mother and children is a testimony, this life we are living is a test by God, it is nothing because nobody knows tomorrow whether we will be here or not, it is only our actions that will stay and go with us.

“So in your constituencies, live as if it is your last day in your constituency, this is how i live my life every day, I feel that I may not be here tomorrow. We will not have the feeling to do anything wrong if we live with this mindset. So this is the lesson I have learnt in my 35 years in public health,” she said.