By Danjuma Àttah, Gombe
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) nutrition specialist in its Bauchi Field Office, Philomena Irene, has encouraged Chairmen of Local Government Councils in Gombe State, that with a political will, is all they need to address the scourge of malnutrition in their Areas.
Malnutrition has remained a dreaded scourge affecting children in Gombe State. According to the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), only 30.7% of newborns in Gombe are exclusively breastfed, and merely 8.4% of children aged six to twenty-three months receive the necessary nutrients for proper development.
With this alarming rates of malnutrition, the Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme recorded 14,175 cases of severe malnutrition, suggesting urgent intervention.
But Philomena, in a presentation during a capacity building workshop on basic nutrition concepts and financing for Council Chairmen and food and nutrition committees of the LGA’s, said making adequate budgetary allocations and releases for basic needs such as, water, sanitation among others, investing in women and children is a sure way to go.
The two day workshop (7th – 8th April, 2025) is being held at Crispan Hotel, Jos which has in attendance the State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Salihu Baba Alkali, Commissioner for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Dr Barnabas Malle, Permanent Secretaries in all line ministries, almost all the eleven LG Chairmen of the State as well as senior officials from the State Primary Health Care Development Agency and other agencies.
She said over 45% of children are acutely malnourished in Gombe State which presents a bleak future for the State stressing that the data is not just fabricated.
She however encouraged that the challenges are surmountable following Government intervention. According to her, with N4 billion required to address Malnutrition in the State, the State Government has so far released N175 million which is quite commendable even though more effort is needed.
End.
