Abia Govt inaugurates Council on Nutrition
The Abia State Council on Nutrition has been inaugurated by Governor Alex Otti.
Inaugurating the Council at Nvosi in Isialangwa South LGA, after an overview of the Nutrition 774 (N774) initiative from a delegation of the National Technical Working Group, led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health and Focal Person on Nutrition, Dr. Uju Anwukah, Governor Otti reiterated the government’s
commitment to integrate nutrition-focused planning into the State’s development agenda.
The Governor described nutrition as the foundation of public health, productivity and long-term economic growth, pointing out that the group’s advocacy visit has served as a timely call for the state to adopt a deliberate tracking and reporting of nutrition indicators across all sectors.
According to him, his administration has committed 15 percent of its annual budget to healthcare and 20 percent to education in the last two years and directed the Commissioner for Budget and Planning to ensure that nutrition-related programmes are clearly tagged and captured in future budgets, starting with the 2025 fiscal year.
He urged members of the newly inaugurated Nutrition Council to ensure effective coordination and performance tracking.
Presenting an overview of the initiative, the SSA to the President on Nutrition and Focal Person for the Nutrition 774 initiative, Dr Uju Anwukah revealed that Nigeria presently ranks 1st in Africa and second globally in malnutrition-related burden, with an annual economic loss of about $1.5 billion.
Dr Anwuka who explained that the Nutrition -774 initiative was conceived to provide unified response to Nigeria malnutrition crisis, called for the setting up of the Nutrition department in relevant MDAS and lauded the Dr Otti led administration for increasing budgetary allocation for nutrition from ₦231 million in 2022 to ₦1.35 billion in 2024.
