The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Obehi Akoria, has said the right nutrition, especially during the first 1,000 days in the life of every child, is the foundation for the development of the brain and immunity.
Prof. Akoria said this in her office in Benin City, when the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Budget, Economic Planning and Development and Chairman of Edo State Committee on Food and Nutrition, Mr. Bernard Aigbe, represented by the Director of Development Partnership Department, Mr. Kingsley Ogbodu, visited her for advocacy.
The Health Commissioner, while praising the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, for setting up the State Committee on Food and Nutrition, said that children are best cared for from conception, so that they can be well nourished with all the basic nutrition packages, including proper care for pregnant mothers, exclusive breastfeeding, vitamin A supplement, de-worming and growth monitoring for children from pregnancy to two years of age.
Prof. Akoria asked the State Committee on Food and Nutrition to ensure effective collaboration with relevant stakeholders, and share information with everyone.
She also stressed the importance of the Primary Healthcare programme, which she said, is to ensure access to quality healthcare for everyone regardless of age, and encouraged members of the Committee to keep sensitizing residents in the State on the need to take care of their health.
Mr. Aigbe told the Health Commissioner that his Team came to her office to advocate for nutrition ecosystem, and also to inform her of the Committee’s mandates and measures to reduce malnutrition, improve data collection and coordinate relevant sectors to improve nutrition in the State.
He said the importance of follow-up on growth monitoring of children and ensuring children of 0-59 months get all the necessary nutrition supplements, and said the need to prioritize nutrition to improve the well-being of children in the State, as he said, malnutrition is a global problem.
