Committee advocates for Budget Lines for Nutrition Nutrition at Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board
By: Femi Mustapha
The Kaduna State Committee on Food and Nutrition (SCFN) has called for a dedicated budget line for nutrition initiatives at the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board SPHCB to ensure the availability of funds to address nutrition-related matters.
The Chairman of the Committee, Bashir Muhammad (mni), asserted this when he led a delegation of the Committee on an advocacy visit to the Executive Secretary of Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board today, Dr Bello Yusuf Jam,o on 24th October 2024.
According to him, Nutrition is an important component of the Health sector; hence, there is a need for the inclusion of a specific allocation for nutrition in the government’s budget for the Board.
The delegation, comprising passionate members of the SCFN including the Director of Said Coordination at the Planning and Budget Commission PBC Aisha Mohammed, representative of UNICEF, Alive, and Thrive, and others emphasized the critical need for prioritizing nutrition funding in government budgets, stating,
“Nutrition is a key determinant of the well-being of our communities, and we must have a clear budget line to address the nutritional needs of our people.
The Chairman of SCFN, who doubles as the Permanent Secretary of the Planning and Budget Commission, also harped on the need for a Nutrition department in the primary Health Care Board to especially focus on the issues of malnutrition bedeviling the State.
He stressed that creating such a department will enhance the coordination of efforts geared towards fighting malnutrition in the state.
The delegation also admonished the Board to ensure that only qualified Nutritionists are posted as Nutrition Focal Persons in the 23 LGAS for effective service delivery.
The Chairman of the SCFN also informed the SPHCB that plans are underway to hold an end-of-the-year Nutrition retreat for Kaduna as a State.
He explained that the retreat, which would be supported by partners, is going to be an avenue to brainstorm on the challenges of malnutrition in the State, what has been done to reduce it, and map out a way forward to reduce the negative indices of malnutrition in the State.
Mallam Bashir Muhammad disclosed that stakeholders from different spaces that contribute to the fight against malnutrition will be part of the retreat.
Responding to the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Board, Bello Yusuf Jamo, expressed delight at the concern shown by the committee to have a nutrition Budget line at the Board.
Dr. Jamo explained that the mandates and the sub-mandates of the Board are nutrition-related.
According to him, despite all the achievements recorded in the fight against malnutrition, it has remained a concern to public health and a threat to child survival, growth, and development, hence the need for the Committee to expand its membership to accommodate other stakeholders that play a key role in fighting malnutrition.
