The Commisssioner for Health in Jigawa, Dr Abba Umar, on Thursday, said the state was investing in reforming the
Primary Health Care (PHC) centres in the 288 political wards.
Umar disclosed this in Abuja during a news conference on “Addressing the High Rates of Malnutrition in Northern Nigeria”.
He said that Jigawa had been rated among states with high ratio of malnourished children, adding that interventions on nutrition required the services of the PHC centres.
He added that “malntrition is mainly a problem of Northern Nigeria and it should be a wake-up call for stakeholders in the region.
“The Jigawa Government is working on health sector reforms to ensure that primary health care centres in the 288 political wards in the state
are fully working.
“We will ensure that drugs for treatment are available, antenatal receives the required attention and ensure a good referral system.
“We are going to ensure that primary health care programmes like malaria, HIV/AIDS are fully running.”
The commissioner, who said that the health sector had second highest budget allocation in the state, urged other states in the northern part of the country to adjust thier budgets to support nutrition programmes.
Umar, however, observed that states with high rate of malnourished children in the North had established departments for nutrition.
According to him, the Federal Government is elaborating the National Nutrition Policy for the welfare of severe acute malnourished children.
He said that the National Council on Health would soon converge to discuss issues on health and nutrition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a research on “Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN)” had revealed that Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara had the highest number of malnourished children in the country.
(NAN)
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