Lagos targets three million children in renewed push against malnutrition

The Lagos state government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are targeting three million children under the age of five, to benefit from this year’s first round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW), a move to tackle malnutrition, improve child survival and expand access to preventive healthcare.

Speaking at the official flag-off of the campaign in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area on Monday, Celine Lafoucriere, chief of UNICEF’s Lagos Office, said the week-long exercise would deliver essential nutrition and maternal health services to children and pregnant women across the state.

According to Lafoucriere, healthcare workers will administer Vitamin A supplements to strengthen children’s immunity and protect their eyesight, provide deworming tablets for eligible children, screen babies for malnutrition and distribute micronutrient supplements to pregnant women.

“Lagos has about three million children under the age of five. Three million children whose brains are forming, whose bones are growing and whose bodies need the right food and the right care now, not next year,” she said.

She said UNICEF supplied the Vitamin A capsules and micronutrient supplements for the campaign while supporting community mobilisation and field monitoring to ensure children are reached.

Lafoucriere commended the Lagos state government for releasing N156 million last year through the Child Nutrition Match Fund, noting that the funding enabled the procurement of nutrition commodities distributed directly to children.

“When a government spends its own money on this work, it changes what is possible. It means we can do more, reach more children and mothers, and waste less time,” she said.

She urged the state government to ensure that the second round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week is conducted before the end of November and called for adequate procurement of deworming tablets for children aged between 12 months and 59 months.

Representing Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the wife of the Lagos state governor, the wife of the deputy governor, Oluremi Hamzat, described the campaign as a strategic intervention aimed at increasing access to high-impact, cost-effective healthcare services while encouraging positive health-seeking behaviour.

She warned pregnant women against seeking care from unqualified birth attendants, saying patronage of quacks continues to contribute to avoidable maternal complications and deaths.

According to her, government agencies, community leaders and the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board must strengthen efforts to identify and prosecute illegal practitioners whose activities endanger lives.

Hamzat also raised concerns over other public health and social challenges, disclosing that more than 4,000 rape cases were reported in Lagos in 2025, while substance abuse among adolescents remains a growing concern. She urged residents to report cases of domestic and sexual violence through the state’s toll-free emergency line, assuring victims of government support in seeking justice.

Highlighting the impact of previous editions of the campaign, she said more than 4.19 million children had received Vitamin A supplements, while over 4.36 million children had been dewormed. She added that more than 17,500 pregnant women and nursing mothers benefited from antenatal and postnatal care, while over 216,900 women and men accessed family planning services.

Kemi Ogunyemi, special adviser to the governor on health, described the initiative as one of Lagos State’s most successful public health interventions.

She noted that although maternal and child healthcare has improved significantly over the years, maternal and child mortality remain major public health concerns, urging parents, caregivers and residents who have missed routine health services to take advantage of the ongoing free medical interventions.

Ogunyemi also acknowledged the contributions of development partners, including UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Gates Foundation, Agrim Pharmaceutical Healthcare Industry and the Centre for Clinical Care and Clinical Research Nigeria (CCCRN), saying their support has strengthened the programme’s reach across the state.

At the grassroots level, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government highlighted ongoing investments in primary healthcare infrastructure, including the construction and rehabilitation of health centres aimed at improving access to quality healthcare.

Dayo Lajide, permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, urged residents to become advocates for healthy living by encouraging friends, neighbours and relatives to utilise government healthcare facilities.

The Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week provides free services including immunisation, nutrition screening, Vitamin A supplementation, deworming, antenatal and postnatal care, family planning services and health education.