Nutrition departments now exist in ministries, says Osinbajo

The federal government says it has established nutrition departments in several ministries to address malnutrition in Nigeria.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said this on Thursday at a virtual meeting of the national council on nutrition.

The council was inaugurated in 2016 “to guide the country’s nutrition objectives and targets, mobilise resources to address nutrition issues, and review nutrition strategies and their impact”.

The vice-president added that the government will consider including nutrition-based estimates in the budget.

“We are at a point where we can move the needle especially with the creation of nutrition departments in line ministries and ensuring that we get nutrition on the budget line and it is actually done properly,” Osinbajo said, according to a statement by Laolu Akande, his spokesperson.

“The council, with the approval of the president, has now ensured that nutrition departments now exist in several ministries, departments and agencies, including ministries of health, agriculture, humanitarian affairs, women affairs, information and culture, industry, trade and investment, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), among others.

“We intend to follow up on all of these especially in the coming days, working with the relevant ministers and the governors forum. And an important point that was made in the presentation earlier was that we need to do a chart of account. It is really important.”