In line with its resolve to ensure a realistic budget, Oyo State government has cut its health budget by 40 per cent just as it called on parents to pay more attention to the nutrition of children right from when they are in the womb.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Basir V. A Bello, speaking at a one-day nutrition stakeholders’ meeting, said the budget cut is to ensure that the government can live within its means while ensuring no less than 60 per cent 2019 budget performance.
It was organised by Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition In Nigeria (CS-SUNN).
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Dr Bello, who spoke on the state of nutrition in Oyo State, declared that malnutrition among under-five children remained a public health concern.
He stated that 90 per cent of mothers claim to breastfeed, but that exclusive breastfeeding is still put at 49.5 per cent among children below six months and a very low percentage of children older than six months receive the minimum acceptable complementary diet.
Dr Bello said the state’s participation in the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRIN) project was among other steps by the state to improve the nutritional indices of children and ensure they achieve their full potential and contribute to the state’s economic development.
Chairman, Oyo State Committee on Food and Nutrition and the state’s Permanent Secretary for Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Mofoluwake Adebiyi, said inadequate food and nutrition leaves one child dying from hunger every 10 seconds globally.
According to her, the state is developing a strategic plan of action on nutrition to improve the state of nutrition in children and reproductive women in the state.
Noting that the capacity of designated officers in conjunction with UNICEF are being built to curb malnutrition, Mr Adebiyi declared that this strategic plan help to guide the implementation of nutrition activities in the state.
Oyo State Nutrition Officer, Mrs Atinuke Oladeji, said the nutrition situation in Oyo State is worrisome and all the indirect measures of nutritional status are particularly low with Oyo State showing higher burden than the Southwest average.
She, however, said more financial commitment was required by the state to implement identified key nutrition-specific interventions to improve nutritional status of mothers and their children.
Wife of Oyo State governor, Mrs Tamunominini Makinde, speaking through the Permanent Secretary, Women Affairs, Mrs C.O Abioye, called for policies that will improve nutrition and its values in the state.