By Jamilu Abubakar
The Gombe State Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have intensified efforts to improve maternal nutrition, promote exclusive breastfeeding and encourage appropriate complementary feeding through a new nutrition project targeting the first 1,000 days of life.
Launching the initiative in Gombe, Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Abdul Rahman Shuaibu, said preventing malnutrition begins with ensuring that pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children receive the right nutrition and care.
He explained that the project would strengthen awareness campaigns, improve community participation and equip caregivers with practical knowledge on healthy feeding practices.
UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, said the intervention would improve maternal nutrition, prevent micronutrient deficiencies and strengthen community-based nutrition services across the state.
According to her, promoting exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months and appropriate complementary feeding afterwards would significantly improve children’s health and reduce the burden of malnutrition.
She called on communities, healthcare workers and development partners to work together in supporting mothers to give every child the best possible start in life.
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