Malnutrition accounts for 45% under-5 mortality, says CS-SUNN

The Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) has identified malnutrition as accounting for 45 per cent under-five mortality in Nigeria, making the country second highest contributor to the burden in the world.

Mrs Beatrice Eluaka, CS-SUNN Project Director, said this at the organisation’s capacity building for the media under the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health project (PACFaH) on Monday in Kaduna.

PACFaH is a social accountability project implemented through the strategy building of indigenous CSOs champions and activists to catalysed government at national and state levels to fulfil commitment on child and family health.

Eluaka identified factors that contributed to the prevalence of malnutrition in the country as inadequate funding and monitoring of appropriated funds, poor infants and young child feeding practices, high diseases burden, limited access to nutritious food, vitamins and mineral deficiencies.

The director noted that over the years both the federal and state governments have not prioritised funding for health and nutrition.

The capacity building, according to her, was aimed at empowering media to bring to the fore adequate nutrition practices, malnutrition causes, good infants and young child feeding practices and other issues relating to nutrition as well as promote effective reportage.

The training was aimed at among others to bring to the limelight funding gaps and placing nutrition in the front burners of agenda of policy makers to improve interventions and funding for nutrition.

The training was in line with PACFaH goal to increase capacity of media professionals to create awareness and report on government’s fulfilment of its commitments in child and family health, Eluaka said.