The Vice President, Kashim Shettima has said the Federal Government will prioritize the creation of nutrition departments in designated federal ministries and improved funding of nutrition activities, among others.
The Vice President stated this during an interaction with members of the Nutrition Core Working Committee who were at the Presidential Villa to brief him on the critical challenges and potential solutions for scaling up nutrition in Nigeria.
Speaking after a presentation by the committee, Shettima said measures will be adopted to frontally address some of the issues raised by the committee, particularly the establishment of nutrition departments in designated federal ministries; prioritizing advocacy campaigns on nutrition and funding of nutrition and related activities.
He added that ministries of Water Resources and Sanitation; Science and Technology; Budget and Economic Planning; Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development; Information and National Orientation; Education and Women Affairs, will be encouraged to expedite action in the creation of nutrition departments in their domains.
Earlier in her remarks, the Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Uju Rochas-Anwukah thanked the Vice President for being a voice and champion for nutrition and related activities in the country.
She emphasised the need for nutrition and related activities to be taken to the grassroots and highlighted the action plan developed by the committee which is anchored on decentralized coordination; accountability; financing; nutrition prioritization and profile raising; and scaling up nutrition interventions.
