The Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition (CS- SUUN) has urged the Lagos State Government to leverage the Child Nutrition Fund to procure multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS).
CS- SUUN, Executive Secretary Sunday Okoronkwo stated that the procurement of MMS will give easy access to all pregnant women for the prevention and treatment of anaemia.
Sunday, Okoronkwo made the call during CS-SUNN Media Engagement on Improved Reportage of MMS for Anaemia Prevention and Control in Lagos.
He pointed out that the " Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) is a catalytic financing match mechanism by UNICEF that enables governments to double their investments in essential nutrition commodities, including MMS, for the prevention and treatment of anaemia.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal.
"Anaemia may be caused by several factors, including nutrient deficiencies through inadequate absorption of nutrients, infections (e.g. malaria, parasitic infections, tuberculosis, HIV), inflammation, and gynaecological and obstetric conditions, among others."
"Anaemia is a critical global public health problem that particularly affects young children, menstruating adolescent girls and women, and pregnant and postpartum women". Okoronkwo
"It is a common cause of ill health or death in mothers and their babies, especially in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where more than four out of ten pregnant women have the condition". He said
Okoronkwo who noted that a sizable proportion of pregnant women in Lagos are anaemic, urged the state government to urgently address it by focusing on maternal and child malnutrition.
Sherifat Oyediran
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