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NewsA&T Outlines Factors Responsible for High Rate of Mortality in Kaduna

A&T Outlines Factors Responsible for High Rate of Mortality in Kaduna

A&T Outlines Factors Responsible for High Rate of Mortality in Kaduna

By: Femi Mustapha

The Kaduna State Team Lead for Alive & Thrive (A&T), Mrs. Sarah Kwasu, has disclosed that half of all under-five mortality is caused by underlying maternal and child undernutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies.

She disclosed this while speaking at a two-day stakeholder meeting on the Scale-Up of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) held in Zaria today.

Speaking on the topic “Making a Case for MMS Investment,” the A&T State Team Lead observed that the high 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 explained that in addition to anemia, deficiencies such as vitamin A, zinc, vitamin B12, iodine, and folate are also widespread in Nigeria and harm pregnancy outcomes.

Mrs. Sarah Kwasu lamented that improvements in the natural diet and behavioral change are difficult to achieve over a short time for populations in resource-constrained countries.

She, therefore, suggested that combining all micronutrients in a multi-supplement and delivering a multiple micronutrient supplement to women in targeted groups is more programmatically feasible and should be embraced.

“Over the past five decades, iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation has become a core component of antenatal care for pregnant women around the globe.

“While iron and folic acid are critical nutrients, we now know that they are not the only nutrients that pregnant women may need to support their health and the health of their child.

“Compared to IFA supplementation, MMS better ensures that babies are born healthy, and it has the greatest benefits when taken by malnourished women.”

She, therefore, tasked all stakeholders to brace up for the scaling of MMS in Kaduna State, saying her organization, A&T, has been at the forefront of educating Nutrition Focal Persons (NFPs) across the 23 LGAs of Kaduna State on Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) for pregnant women in the state. A&T is currently building the capacity of selected community volunteers (CVs) in the 23 LGAs on community mobilization and demand creation.

In his remarks, the State Health Educator/Deputy Director of Social Mobilisation of the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, Mr. Isah Yushau, noted that Alive & Thrive (FHI 360) is one of the partners championing the promotion of uptake and utilization of antenatal Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) in the state.

He disclosed that A&T, a global nutrition program that aims to improve the health and well-being of mothers and children in developing countries, is ever ready to partner with Kaduna State.

He added that the organization has been a dependable partner to Kaduna State in promoting optimal maternal and infant nutrition practices, including breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, and adequate micronutrient intake.

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