UNICEF expresses concern over low intake of iron, folic acid supplement by pregnant women in Bauchi

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UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Philomena Irene

By Usman Shehu, Bauchi

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over low intake of iron and folic acid by pregnant women in Bauchi State.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Philomena Irene, made the remark on Tuesday while at a one-day Inception meeting of Scale-Up of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) for Pregnant Women in Bauchi State.

She explained that the National Demographic Health Information Survey (NDHIS) 2018 reveals that only 23 percent of the 381,364 pregnant women in Bauchi state receives iron and folic acid supplementation, which is crucial in reducing the risk of low birth weight, maternal anaemia, and iron deficiency.

The UNICEF specialist confirmed that under the scale-up, Bauchi state has received 134, 280 bottles of MMS, adding that More will be supplied as the project implementation progresses.

The Specialist assured that UNICEF is ready to work with Bauchi State Government to ensure that Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) is included in the annual state procurement Plan.

According to Irene the meeting which was organized by the Bauchi state government in collaboration with UNICEF and Alive and Thrive is to ensure lifesaving initiative generously funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Government of Nigeria and the Bauchi state government.

“We are here today to launch the scale up of multiple micronutrient supplement with the aim of improving pregnancy outcomes in Bauchi state”, she said.

According to Irene, the initiative is expected to strengthen the ante-natal platforms to deliver high impact maternal nutrition interventions in Bauchi state.

The Nutrition Specialist further explained that the initiative will also strengthen the capacity of health workers to effectively forecast and update MMS administration to pregnant women in Bauchi state on the Logistics Health Management Information system (LHIMS) and DHIS 2 platforms.

She added that the scale up of MMS for pregnant women aligns with the Nigerian government’s plan to reduce anemia among pregnant women to 40 per cent by 2025.

Irene assured that UNICEF will continue to support Bauchi state government to mitigate the effects of anaemia in pregnancy and scale up MMS to all pregnant women.