Health
UNITED Nations Children Fund ( UNICEF), in partnership with the Bayelsa State Ministry of Health, on Friday ended a two-day media programme on child and nutrition.
The programme was tagged: “Dialogue on increased advocacy and reporting on nutritional response to child nutrition in emergencies”
The programme, according to the UN children fund, was expected to take media stakeholders to an on-the-spot field assessment and reportage on child nutrition across flood impacted Local Government Areas of Bayelsa.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Pabara Igwele, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Toyin Azebi, applauded UNICEF for the partnership.
The Commissioner pledged Government’s commitment in curbing issues associated with malnutrition, as well as continuing the drive in sensitising women, especially mothers and adolescents, to the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and adequate nutrition for children across the state.
On the day-one of the Programme, a nutrition specialist from the UNICEF Port Harcourt field office, Mrs Ngozi Onuora, gave an overview of the 2021 MICS snapshot on child nutrition in the state.
She noted that the global recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding for the year 2030 stood at 60 per cent, while Bayelsa’s current index was still as low as 6 per cent.
Onuora also added that introduction of newborn children to breastfeeding in the state stood at an average of 35 per cent respectively, noting that exclusive breastfeeding and adequate nutrition were paramount in sustenance of child health.
She hinted that the growth and development of humans depended on the first 1000 days after birth, hence adequate nutrition was inevitable.
“If children are exclusively breastfed and adequate nutrition given, there won’t be malnourishment which leads to stunted growth of children.
“Malnourishment affects the brains, and therefore retards growth of children which would ultimately affect them performance in academics and other social aspects of life.
Also on the theme, a nutrition specialist from the Akure field office of UNICEF, Mrs Ada Ezeogu, said adequate and complimentary nutrition gives the immune system the resilience to fight diseases and enabled humans to sustain their lives in general.
She called on parents, the government and all well-meaning individuals to continue partnering UNICEF on its sensitisation drive on adequate nutrition and exclusive breastfeeding.
While giving charge to participating media stakeholders at the programme, UNICEF Communication Officer, Enugu field office, Dr Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe, stated that media hands were expected to do child reportage in manners which should protect the rights of the children.
She applauded the media for the consistent partnership with UNICEF, emphasising that the role of the media in informing and educating as well as advocating for the rights of the child was inevitable.
“I commend the media for the partnership With UNICEF over the years. As media stakeholders, we don’t need to stage manage our reportage on children, we need to protect their rights and continue to report the ills meted out to them in the society.
“The essence of engaging the media in UNICEF’s quest to curb problem of malnutrition was because UNICEF believes and knows that through the media, sensitisation and advocacy would be fast tracked”, she said.
Highpoints of the day-one of the programme include goodwill messages from the state Ministries, Environment, Budget and Economic Planning, the World Health Organization (WHO).
Others are Rotary International, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bayelsa State Council, as well as the Centre for Clinical Care and Research in Nigeria (CCCRN). (NAN)
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Tags: Dr Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe Mrs Ada Ezeogu Mrs Ngozi Onuora UNICEF
