By Zaharaddeen Ishaq Abubakar | Katsina Times | 11 August 2025

The Katsina State Government has announced a renewed multi-sector campaign to tackle the escalating crisis of malnutrition among children and mothers, describing the situation as a public health emergency.

Speaking at a press briefing in Katsina, Dr. Shamsuddin Yahya, Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Agency, said malnutrition is one of the leading causes of illness and death in the state. He urged the public to treat recent findings by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a wake-up call rather than criticism.

 “We do not see the MSF report as a complaint, but as a call for everyone to work together to address this problem, which stems from deep-rooted socio-economic factors,” Dr. Yahya said.

According to him, the administration of Governor Dikko Umar Radda has provided ₦200 million to UNICEF in 2023 and ₦300 million in 2024 for the supply of therapeutic nutrition products, with UNICEF matching the funds each year. Since 2016, ₦250,000 has been allocated monthly to 14 priority local government areas for out-patient child nutrition centres, while all 34 LGAs have committed ₦1 million each per month to combat the crisis.

Katsina currently operates 185 out-patient therapeutic centres and 17 in-patient facilities for severely malnourished children, with the state government funding more than half of them.

Dr. Yahya said the government is also distributing farming tools, establishing mechanisation centres, and monitoring markets to prevent food hoarding. However, he expressed concern over parents selling Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) instead of using it for their malnourished children. Mobile courts, he warned, will soon be established to prosecute offenders.

Following Governor Radda’s July visit to the MSF-reported facility with high child mortality, a task force involving UNICEF, MSF, ALIMA, the World Food Programme, and relevant ministries developed a multi-pronged intervention plan awaiting the governor’s approval. The measures will address healthcare and cultural factors, including birth spacing and vaccine refusal, which worsen the crisis.

Also speaking, Dr. Umar Bello, Coordinator of the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project in Katsina, said over three million residents across the state’s 361 wards have benefitted from interventions such as Vitamin A supplements, micronutrient powders, iron folic acid, malaria prevention drugs for pregnant women, and zinc for children with diarrhoea.

More than 1,000 health workers have been trained on maternal and child healthcare to raise awareness on exclusive breastfeeding for six months, timely complementary feeding, and family planning.

Under the upcoming ANRiN 2.0 phase, the state will continue preventive measures and RUTF distribution with support from the World Bank, while ₦700 million has been earmarked by the government to sustain the programme.

“The governor is committed to both prevention and treatment, working with all stakeholders to safeguard the health of women and children in the state,” Dr. Bello assured.