The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated 11,580 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to the Gombe State Government to support the treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition.
The Chief of UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, disclosed this during the handover ceremony, commending the state government for providing N500m in counterpart funding for nutrition interventions last year.
Rafique said UNICEF matched the state’s contribution with an equal amount through the Child Nutrition Fund, helping to procure essential nutrition supplies for vulnerable children.
She said the consignment contained millions of sachets of RUTF, a specialised therapeutic food used to treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
“RUTF is specifically meant for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition and should not be used as regular food,” she said.
Rafique urged authorities to ensure proper distribution and monitoring to prevent the diversion or misuse of the supplies.
She also called on community-based organisations, including Mama2Mama and Fathers for Good Health, to intensify public awareness about the appropriate use of the therapeutic food.
The UNICEF official stressed that children undergoing treatment must complete their prescribed courses without interruption, urging parents and caregivers to follow health workers’ instructions.
She commended the state government for establishing a committee to prevent the diversion and abuse of nutrition supplies, while calling for stronger accountability measures.
The Gombe State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Prof Bertha Abdu, thanked UNICEF for its continued support, particularly its interventions to improve the welfare of women and children.
Abdu said adequate nutrition was essential for children’s growth and development, warning that nutritional deficiencies could cause serious health and developmental problems.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Habu Dahiru, said the government was complementing UNICEF’s interventions through the local production of nutrient-rich food.
He disclosed that the ministry had increased production and was working with the North-East Development Commission to expand its production facility to serve Gombe and neighbouring states.
“We are ready to collaborate with UNICEF and other development partners to expand the production of locally made nutritious food and strengthen efforts to tackle malnutrition,” Dahiru said.
He assured UNICEF that the state government would monitor the distribution of the donated supplies to ensure that they reached children who needed treatment.
The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Micah Sunday, said tackling malnutrition would improve children’s physical health, brain development, educational outcomes and overall wellbeing.
The donation is expected to strengthen Gombe State’s response to severe acute malnutrition and improve vulnerable children’s access to life-saving nutritional treatment.
