PARTICIPANTS at the just concluded first National Nutrition Summit held in Abuja want governments at all levels to provide adequate public funding to implement high impact cost effective nutrition interventions.The 226 participants at the event comprised of the Minister of State for Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate; nutritionists; food technologists; agriculturists; academics and other stakeholders drawn from the Federal and state Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Education Water Resources and Research Institutes and Universities.The theme of the summit was: 'Scaling up nutrition in Nigeria: Catalyst for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).'The objectives of the summit were to: Identify, prioritise and discuss major challenges with nutrition in Nigeria and recommend necessary policy and programme actions to address them; advocate for increased resource allocations for nutrition interventions by all stakeholders in Nigeria; and deliberate and develop a roadmap for Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) in Nigeria.According to the 2008 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), the nutrition indices for Nigeria are very poor with stunting 41 per cent, wasting 14 per cent and underweight 23 per cent, and have shown very little improvement in the last decade.According to the 2003 and 2008 NDHS, the exclusive breastfeeding rate over the years has dropped from 17 per cent in 2003 to 13 per cent in 2008.The participants observed that malnutrition is the underlying cause of 53 per cent of all deaths among children under five years.The participants in a communiqu issued at the end of the three-day meeting recommended among other things that existing national policy on food and nutrition as well as the National Plan of Action on Food and Nutrition should be reviewed; and that government at all levels should drive the rapid scale up of implementation of the plan of action.They want key government agenda and documents such as Transformation Agenda, Vision 20:2020, National Strategic Health Development Plan, and National Agricultural Investment Plan to have key nutrition interventions mainstreamed into them.The participants want nutrition intervention programmes to benefit from the savings from petrol subsidy removal. According to the communiqu, Minister of State for Health should constitute a team of nutrition champions and lead an advocate /delegation to meet the President, key community and religious leaders, National Assembly, leadership of relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by the end of April 2012 to ensure nutrition is placed high on the social/economic development agenda and resources allocated to roll out quality nutrition series at all levels.The participants also recommended that 'PROFILES,' the nutrition advocacy tool, be updated and other relevant advocacy packages be developed to facilitate advocacy.They want a Senior Special Adviser on Food and Nutrition be appointed to advise Mr. President on nutrition matters while the National Nutrition Council, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2007 be inaugurated and to be chaired by a representative of Mr. President. The participants advocate for a Ministry of Food and Nutrition or Health and Nutrition.They said that a professional and experienced nutritionist of not less than a director should as a matter of urgency be deployed or recruited to head the Secretariat of the National Committee on Food and Nutrition domiciled at the National Planning Commission. The participants said a dedicated budget should be allocated to make the Committee functional.The participants also said that states and local councils Committee on Food and Nutrition should be set up and adequately funded.Also present at the meeting were traditional rulers, religious leaders, representatives of the mass media, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and development partners such as Save the Children United Kingdom, British Department for International Development, United Nations Children's Fund, World Health Organisation, United States Agency for International Development, Action Against Hunger, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Helen Keller International, MI, Targeted States High Impact Project, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and Mission to Save the Helpless.Also, professional associations, including Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology and Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers. Government parastatals were also well represented.Nutrition champions were celebrated during the opening event. They include: His Royal Majesty the Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien, His Royal Highness, the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Sama'ila Mohammed Meira and Hajia Mariam Uwais.
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