• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Acute malnutrition kills 81 children in Nasarawa – State Nutrition Officer

Acute malnutrition kills 81 children in Nasarawa – State Nutrition Officer

The Nutrition Officer of Nasarawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency (NSPHCDA), Halima Yusuf-Shitu has revealed that about 81 children have so far lost their lives to acute malnutrition across the seven hundred health facilities in the state.

The State Nutrition Officer stated this at a two-day meeting of health and nutrition experts organised by Civil Society Scale-up Nutrition in Nigeria in Lafia.

Yusuf-Shitu, who was represented by the state monitoring and evaluation officer for nutrition, Abubakar Yahaya, said community management of acute malnutrition across the state’s PHCDA registered about 5,254 to access ready-to-use therapeutic food.

Out of the total number, he said, not less than 2,709 children have recovered from severe malnutrition at the various PHC centres, and 10 of the children could not recover after 12 weeks of treatment.

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“In the whole, about 81 children lost their lives to acute malnutrition at various PHCDA in the state.”

Earlier, the state coordinator of CS-UNN, Mercy Asso, said the aim of the meeting was to collaborate with the media and civil society groups, considering their role in the information dissemination to mitigate the effect in the society.