Role of United Nations against Increasing Hunger

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Health are calling upon everyone to help end deadly hunger in the country.

There is an “unprecedented” increase in child mortality due to malnutrition, especially during this period when schools are closed due to school closure during COVID-19. There is also a significant rise in food insecurity in Nigeria that has caused people and families to lose their livelihoods, said Doctor Babatunde Fashola, Secretary General of WFP on Saturday at a press forum.

According to him, “there have been numerous reports of hundreds of children dying daily in various parts of the country as a result of extreme famine and starvation”.

Doctor Fashola said: “The WFP estimates that between October 2021 and July 2022, there were five million more women who were pregnant or at risk of getting pregnant. This could be attributed to several factors including the disruptions to global supply chains caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed up prices for agricultural inputs.”

He added that it is estimated that over 150 000 mothers will give birth in six months after the year 2022, which will cause a shortage of food and other basic commodities and lead to the deaths of a lot of children.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, expressed his concern over the high rate of death of young children due to lack of proper nutrition, adding: “We should all unite in our efforts against this because the situation is worse among adolescents. It is something that needs to address… We continue to see many instances of adolescent girls being pregnant, dropping out of school, and suffering from early pregnancy complications, which can be fatal to them.”

He urged parents and guardians to ensure the provision of a decent education to their children to enable them to attain independence in old age. He advised individuals to join hands to provide more financial aid to those in need to fight the scourge of malnutrition. He also called on Nigerians not to succumb to self-indulgent behaviors like alcoholism.

The media was told that WFP is working with key stakeholders to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce child mortality and poor child health.

The agency and the Ministry of Health signed a partnership agreement to promote the safe use of technology to prevent and detect diseases at a much higher level and lower the rate of absenteeism in primary schools. Also, sensitization of communities on the importance of healthy eating habits and safe water usage in preventing diarrhoeal diseases in rural areas.

This came as President Muhammadu Buhari, earlier today announced new measures to curb rising cases of cholera during the campaign season in the country, urging citizens to exercise personal hygiene.

He also disclosed that the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NMHCDA) would roll out a national plan to establish universal access to maternal and postnatal care across the 8 states of the federation.

Buhari added that efforts would be made to improve gender representation in leadership positions in the public and private sector sectors. However, he said, the federal government had started the process of launching the Universal Coverage Scheme for Pregnant Women and Maternity Care and several strategic interventions in readiness for its rollout.

The president noted that a comprehensive action plan has already been developed to support activities and programs on reducing the menace of cholera. The intervention includes increasing surveillance and data collection to guide and inform actions to stop disease outbreaks in affected communities.

The State Governments should actively involve non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and religious groups to drive the agenda, he cautioned.

The President further appealed to members of the community to play a role in curbing the menace through increased hand washing along with traditional cultural practices, strict observance of curfew hours, and ensuring adequate lighting while drinking water.

He emphasized the Federal Government was committed to improving the quality of life in the country and averting loss of lives, stressing that it would also do all within its power to protect public health.