Bauchi establishes more centres to tackle malnutrition cases

Executive chairman of Bauchi State Primary Health
Care Development Agency (SPHCDA), Adamu Ibrahim
Gamawa has informed that the state will establish 10
new community management centres across the state
in 2017 to tackle acute malnutrition among children.
He stated this in Bauchi on Saturday while speaking on
the rising cases of malnutrition among children across
the state.
He added that the centres will be established with the
support of UNICEF to cater for the over 800, 000
malnourished children in the state.
Gamawa informed that UNICEF has been supporting the
state with various interventions to tackle malnutrition in
the state which includes providing supplement being fed
to the children at the centres.
Reports have indicated that over 13,000 children were
malnourished in Dambam local government area of the
state.
Nutrition officer of the local government Ahmed Idi
confirms the figures when he received a delegation led
by the Chairman, State Primary Health Care
Development Agency (SPHCDA ) who was on a tour of
the centres across the state.
He said that the children were attending treatment at
the Dambam community management for acute
malnutrition programme in 2016.
He however noted that out of the number only 3.755
were successfully treated after receiving supplementary
feeding for a period of eight weeks.
Idi informed that the Dambam local government has
five out patient therapeutic sites attending to cases of
malnutrition.
He lamented that most of the parents are fond of
defaulting which resulted in the low number of children
treated within the period.
The Nutrition officer said that enlightenment is still
ongoing to encourage care givers on the importance of
exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding and
personal hygiene.
When Journalists visited one of maternal and child
health centers in Chadi, they saw a large turnout of
mothers who came with their children's to receive the
plumpy nuts to give to their malnourished children.
According to the person in charge of the facility,
Ibrahim Lamarck, the Chadi centre recorded a success
in 2016 as it successfully treated 865 malnutrition
cases out of 883 reported at the centre.
He however expressed dismay over lack of routine
drugs meant to complement the nutritional food given
to the children.
He said that some mothers trek long distances to
access the treatment centres and are asked to buy
drugs which was free in the past.
"This however has not deter the women. Some come to
the centre with their husbands,"he said.