NIGERIA / MALNUTRITION

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24 July 2013

In the Sahel region of Nigeria malnutrition is a constant threat and parents seeking treatment for their children have to resort to hospitals which are often expensive and inconvenient. UNICEF

Description

STORY: NIGERIA/MALNUTRITION
TRT: 2.15
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / HAUSA/ NATS

DATELINE: 21 MAY 2013, KATANGA VILLAGE, NIGERIA

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Shotlist

1. Wide shot, mothers and children waiting under tree
2. Wide shot, clinic
3. Various shots, children and mothers being checked
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Aishatu Aminu Zango, State Nutrition Officer, Jigawa State:
“They will now give you the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food according to their weight. Then after that we have health promotions issues to do with hand washing. We talk also exclusive about breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding. Sometimes, if the time allows us, you can see how the women are, we do food demonstration using the local available food items we have within the locality.”
5. Various shots, children being treated
6. SOUNDBITE (Hausa) Fatima Yaisha, mother:
“Many people from the town and villages praise this programme and villagers call those children “the children of the king”, because they all look so very healthy. And even I received this food for my child today and I am happy.”
7. Various shots, clinic
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rashid Abdullai, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist
“This CMAM programme is actually very, very necessary, especially here in northern Nigeria. Without this programme many of the children you see here today would have died.”
9. Close up, child

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Storyline

In the Sahel region of Nigeria mothers have brought their babies to an outpatient clinic to be treated for malnutrition.

In this region malnutrition is a constant threat. And until recently, children had to go to hospital, which was often expensive and inconvenient.

UNICEF supports programmes that treat children in their communities.

At the outpatient site, mother and child are weighed. The children are checked for other medical complications. Those with a severe acute malnutrition are given therapeutic food. Mothers receive enough supplies for a week, and are told to come back every week for the next two months.

SOUNDBITE (English) Aishatu Aminu Zango, State Nutrition Officer, Jigawa State:
“They will now give you the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food according to their weight. Then after that we have health promotions issues to do with hand washing. We talk also exclusive about breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding. Sometimes, if the time allows us, you can see how the women are, we do food demonstration using the local available food items we have within the locality.”

The Community Management of Acute Malnutrition programme was introduced in Nigeria in 2009. Today there are about five hundred outpatient therapeutic sites in the Sahel region.

SOUNDBITE (Hausa) Fatima Yaisha, mother:
“Many people from the town and villages praise this programme and villagers call those children “the children of the king”, because they all look so very healthy. And even I received this food for my child today and I am happy.”

Community involvement is key to better understanding malnutrition and how to treat it.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Rashid Abdullai, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist
“This CMAM programme is actually very, very necessary, especially here in northern Nigeria. Without this programme many of the children you see here today would have died.”

This simple, effective programme is saving lives. Because of it more than half a million children have been treated in the past five years.

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