Ebonyi state government says it has paid counterpart fund of 100,000 US dollars for nutritional activities and that the responsibility does not rest solely on the Ministry of Health but cuts across other sectors such as Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Human Capital Development, Ministry of Skill acquisition & Job Creation among others.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ekuma who made this known when the executive members of Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Ebonyi State Chapter paid him a courtesy visit in his office at Ochudo Centenary City, Abakaliki
applauded the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru for the bold he has taken so far to reposition the health sector.
He disclosed that the Governor has done a lot to increase food production like distribution of fertilizers to farmers which he said would go a long way to solve the problem of under nutrition in the State.
Ekuma noted that the Governor recently empowered 10 women from each Local Government in the State, he encouraged them to start the campaign from their localities to enable people know what and what to combine to avoid malnutrition.
He said, “when somebody has something doing, the person can afford good nutrition because one of the major causes is lack of fund”.
Earlier in her remarks, the representative of the Chairperson, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Ebonyi State Chapter, Miss Ekara Esther said that they lack qualified personnel in the field which increases the prevalence of malnutrition.
Ekara stressed the need for core nutritionists to be trained and placed in positions to handle malnutrition so that when the commodities brought by partners are not there they would be able to tackle the problem.
She requested for integration of empowerment and Skill acquisition into the scheme to be able to fight malnutrition.
On his part, the Vice Chairman of Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Ebonyi State Chapter, Mr. Oko-Olughu Maclarry Ejike lamented the activities of quacks in rural communities and said that in the absence of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a substitute could be used for adequate nutrition but unprofessionals endanger lives of patients through wrong mixture.
