No fewer than 102, 761 malnourished children have received treatment in Kebbi State between 2015 and 2019, the State Nutrition Officer, Mrs Beatrice Kwere has said.
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Kwere told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, on Sunday, that 77, 757 malnourished children were treated between 2015 and 2017 while 25, 004 were treated between 2018 and 2019, respectively.
She said that the number of malnourished children had decreased since the implementation of the Maternal, New-born, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) project executed by the UNICEF and European Union (EU) in the state.
Kwere noted that the MNCHN project enhanced access to preventive services through the promotion of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices and provision of Micro Nutrients Powder (MNP).
She added that it also increased curative services at Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) and stabilisation centres.
“The MNCHN project increased the number of CMAM sites from 90 in 2017 to 120 in 21 local government councils as at 2019.
“The stabilisation centres for Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM) also increased from 21 to 25, while the number of support groups promoting IYCF expanded from 15 to 21 local government councils.
“The project helped to provide MPN to 27, 514 in 2017 and 94, 674 in 2018 while 77, 869 children benefit from the programme in 2019.
“It also helped us to reach out to 121, 006 pregnant women with IYCF information in 2017; 79, 937 in 2018 and 105, 215 in 2019,” she said.
A beneficiary of IYCF intervention, Mrs Asiya Muntari, a mother of seven, commended UNICEF and EU over the improvement of the nutritional status of rural women and children through the MNCHN project.
Muntari, who dwell at Gamuzza Village in Argungu Local Government Area of the state, said that she has seen the benefits of Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) when she tried it on her seventh child.
“My baby is six months old; she is strong, healthy and smart. I never take her to the hospital on account of ill health.
“I did not practiced EBF on my other children but decided to give it a try after the MNCHN outreach team sensitised me on its numerous benefits.
“This is the sixth months and I am impressed with the remarkable result so far.
“In the past; my other kids often have diarrhea and other sicknesses which prompted me to visit hospitals frequently but everything is different with her,” she said.
She added that two other women in the community had also accepted exclusive breastfeeding and they witnessed healthy growth and development of their children.