The Federal Government on Friday called on Nigerians to place more priority on their health to avoid contracting diseases.

Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbus, Deputy Director, Health Promotion Division, Federal Ministry of Health, made the appeal while presenting a paper at a three-day stakeholders meeting in Abuja.

Bako-Aiyegbus said that the meeting was aimed at reviewing the Integrated Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition Social and Behaviour Change Strategy (IRMNCAH+NSBC) as well as contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bako-Aiyegbusi explained the objective of the meeting as to review the National IRMNCAH plus NSBC Strategy to include current trends, emerging and re-emerging health issues and conditions of public health importance.

She identified some reasons for poor RMNCAH+N performance as poverty, gender inequality, socio-cultural norms, poor and inequitable access to essential and high impact interventions, poor health seeking behaviour and low health literacy.

She said that all stakeholders, policymakers and relevant agencies were being engaged on key health promotion and intervention across IRMNCAH+N.

She noted that everybody must understand their roles to ensure adequate practices of simple health behaviours and to give more priorities to children because they need more nutrition for proper development.

”The head of the family has grown and do not need the large portion of meat, egg, etc, that they get at homes; the children are the ones who need them the most for adequate development both mentally and otherwise.

”Some communities believe that when you give children egg, meat or fish, they turn out to become thieves, this is wrong and not correct, the children need enough of all the essential vitamins to grow,” she said.

Bako-Aiyegbusi therefore advised mothers to feed children with all the essential vitamins to help them develop appropriately. (NAN)

– Dec. 7, 2018 @ 19:05 GMT |