Alive & Thrive organizes MMS orientation for LGA Nutrition Focal Person in Kaduna
By: Femi Mustapha
Alive & Thrive (A&T) today in partnership with the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, began a two-day Multiple Micronutrients Supplements ( MMS) orientation for Nutrition focal Persons from the 23 Local Government Areas of Kaduna state to improve nutrition stakeholders MMS programming, knowledge and capacity.
In her welcome address, the State Nutrition Officer Ramatu Haruna expressed delight at the opportunity given to the stakeholders and the 23 NFPs describing it as apt. She said
Kaduna State has paid its counterpart funding for the MMS but the doors are still open for more partners like A&T to help reduce maternal mortality in the State.
The SNO who was represented by her assistant, Blessing Maikano promised that they would widen the orientation programme to include service providers.
She added that the team will conduct community sensitization to create awareness of the importance of the multiple micronutrient supplements to the community members so that when the product is available, the community can access it since they already have full knowledge of its benefits.
Maikano disclosed that pregnant women are the beneficiaries of MMS because the supplements will help them address a lot of issues that may arise during pregnancy such as anemia, stillbirth, and other complications that may relate to malnutrition in pregnancy.
“Looking at what the indices are, we realize that in Kaduna State, there are a lot of things that don’t speak well about us but with the coming of the multiple micronutrient supplements, we hope that people will accept it because it has a lot of benefits that can address the challenges faced during pregnancy,” She said.
The State Team Lead for A&T, Mrs. Sarah Kwasu, said the sensitization program aimed at improving the state and LGAs nutrition stakeholders’ MMS programming/planning knowledge and capacity.
Kwasu equally said the sensitization was aimed at integrating A&T’s MMS support into the State MMS implementation plan for the second half of 2024.
According to her, it would help the state and LGA nutrition stakeholders appreciate A&T MMS mandates and support as well as secure nutrition stakeholder buy-in.
She therefore emphasised the significance of MMS in reducing the prevalence of malnutrition in the state.
Speaking further, she lamented that one in five maternal deaths and nearly half of all child deaths under age five are caused by malnutrition.
She also said that the prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age and pregnant women In Nigeria is widely recognized as an important public health problem because of its negative consequences for pregnancy outcomes and its impact on maternal mortality.
She added that over the past five decades, Iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation has become a core component of antenatal care for pregnant women In Nigeria to address anemia.
The team lead however said that, while IFA are critical nutrients, they are not the only nutrients that pregnant women may need to support their health and the health of their children.
She therefore said women need nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainable diets along with essential nutrition services and positive nutrition practices for their survival, health, and well-being as well as that of their children.
She encouraged the NFPs to disseminate the knowledge gained to expectant mothers and caregivers in their respective communities.
Speaking of maternal nutrition and nutritional needs during pregnancy, Mr Olumide Faleke, the Senior Technical Advisor, Interpersonal Communication/Community Mobilisation of A&T, lamented that across the world, women’s diets are often poor in quality and lack nutrients.
Faleke stressed that maternal nutrition is critical to ensuring that women have healthy pregnancies and that children grow into healthy adults.
“Yet evidence showed that women In low-resource settings find it difficult to meet their daily dietary requirements leading to the high proportion of women of reproductive age with low minimum dietary diversity across the nation”, he lamented.
Delivering goodwill messages, the Director of Development Aid Coordination at the state’s Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), Hajiya Aisha Muhammad stressed that the orientation is timely because the state Governor, Senator Uba Sani has approved the release of a sum of $1m counterpart funds, as part of the government’s commitment to the procurement of Multiple Micro-nutrients Supplement (MMS),
Aisha Muhammad who was represented by Grace Dogo, a Planning Officer at the PBC disclosed that the state government’s commitment to MMS has been cash-backed, the only thing remaining now is for us to sign the MoU.
She said: “It was a commitment we made and the Governor has approved the release of $1m, the money is on the ground and we are just waiting for the MoU.”She encouraged the NFPs, worked closely with other healthcare providers
Also, the State Coordinator of CS-SUNN in Kaduna, Ms. Jessica Bartholomew, commended A&T for organizing the MMS orientation for the stakeholders.
Bartholomew restated CS-SUNN’s commitment to improving maternal and child health in Nigeria through the advocacy and promotion of MMS for pregnant women.
“We are complimenting the state government in combating malnutrition and ensuring a healthier future for countless families. Our commitment to scaling up nutrition in Kaduna is our vision and it is vital in increasing human capital development,” she said.
On her part, Chinwe Ezeife, the Nutrition Specialist of UNICEF, Kaduna field office, highlighted their mandate on scaling MMS in Nigeria, through the Bill and Melinda Gates (BMGF) funded project (2023-2027).
Ezeife stated that at the Introduction of the project of scaling up MMS in Nigeria, UNICEF supported the government at the federal government to develop criteria for the selection of project locations/states, and target setting by three years to ensure government interest is well represented.
She added that UNICEF is supporting the state to ensure that National guidelines on micronutrient deficiency control are the guiding document for implementing MMS.
“UNICEF will support to domesticate relevant policies at the state level where applicable and inclusion of MMS into essential medicine lists”.
Eziefe disclosed that plans were currently on the ground to conduct project inception meetings with high-level authorities to facilitate action, especially around the release of counterpart funding for the procurement of essential nutrition commodities.
Also, Mr Olajimi Afeez of R4D, said they have their projects across different states in the country, all relating to MMS.
He added that being the first time R4D in Kaduna, they want to develop a road map for the introduction and scale-up of MMS.
“MMS is a much better innovative drug that has all the essential vitamins for pregnant women to carry their babies till delivery.
“So we want to help Kaduna State in thinking about all of this and also design the road map for it which involves the health workers and right supply chain channels to know if there is leadership and coordination available to lead to the scale up.
“We also aim to have a financial costing model for the state so that it has enough funds, from the state itself or from the partners, to sustain MMS,” Afeez said.
