Over 34 Thousand Children May Die Of Malnutrition In Taraba – UNIC

BY AMEH IDUJAGI, JALINGO – The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said that over 34,000 children in Taraba state may die of severe acute malnutrition, if urgent measures are not taken to save the situation.

Chief of field Office of UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi field Office, Mr. Bhanu Pathak, raised the alarm during a courtesy call on Governor Darius Ishaku on Thursday in Jalingo.

While commending Governor Ishaku for his commitment to the improvement of health and quality education for children in the state and for attending to the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Pathak noted that there is so much that still needed to be done and urged for more commitment from the state government.

According to him; “Currently, Taraba state has an estimated 34,419 severe acute malnutrition cases. With no health facility providing treatment, these children will be at risk of dying if the government does not intervene appropriately and timely. 

“Many children who might survive malnutrition in early life are condemned to permanent physical and intellectual disabilities in later life; thus productivity of the future leaders of the state will be adversely affected” the UNICEF Chief observed. 

He also said that more than 75,000 children under five years are yet to be fully immunised from polio and other child killer diseases and therefore urged the state government to step up action to address the issues. 

Pathak said; “UNICEF is also worried that over 75,000 children in the state are not yet fully immunised while over 500,000 children of school age are out of school. 

“This is further complicated because of the insurgency in the region which has turned Taraba to a home for most of the people fleeing. The internal wrangling have also added to the problem. We therefore urge the state government to step up actions to address this challenges.”

Responding, Governor Ishaku said that the state is “immensely grateful to UNICEF for the various interventions in key areas of education, health, nutrition, child protection and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)..

The governor said that the state government has made tremendous efforts and has recorded great success in the provision of health services, education and the general wellbeing of mothers and children, but is overwhelmed by the challenges posed by the IDPs. 

In his words; “We have done remarkably well and have recorded great improvement in the provision of quality education and health care services to the people. 

“But we have challenges and we need your assistance to deal with the plight of IDPs and the refugees we have coming in from Cameroon. 

“I have directed that they should be properly taken care of but we need more assistance to address some of these issues. We had hoped to have all our children in school by now but the crisis has affected our plans.”  

Ishaku assured that his administration would not relent as it has great plans for children. 

“Let me once again thank the UNICEF and other partnering agencies for their interests in Taraba. I assure you that my government will welcome any intervention for the good of our people and we will always pay our counterpart funds promptly,” Ishaku assured.