Wife of the governor of Anambra State and founder of the non-governmental crusade, Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo, has performed another phase of restocking of the Nonye’s Healthy Pap Banks in the twenty-one local government areas of the state.
At an official ceremony to mark this phase of the programme in Awka, the governor’s wife praised local health workers, especially the local government health officers and the officers in charge across the 326 wards in the state who have been in charge of the distribution and record of the programme.
She explained that since the programme began in August, 2024, over twelve thousand packs of the pap have been produced and distributed, with a recovery count of over fifty percent, significantly pushing down the rate of child malnutrition in Anambra State.
Mrs Soludo also charged the health workers to cover more grounds so as to reach more children, stating that a comprehensive result has not been achieved if there are still children out there who need the supplement but have not received it.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, who is also the Coordinator of Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo Initiative in Anambra State, attributed the recovery speed of children who have taken the pap to its complete nutritional qualities and special production procedures.
In their separate goodwill messages, the Anambra State Coordinator of the World Health Organization, Dr Mohammed Bonos, and the traditional ruler of Aguleri, Igwe Michael Idigo lauded the product as well-thought, insisting that good nutrition is key to a healthy populace.
The State Nutrition Officer, Dr Rose Amasiani, described the pap as fortified and nutritious, explaining thag the components are locally sourced organic materials, with huge potential to correct nutritional deficiencies, not only in children but also in adults.
A dietician with Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, NAUTH, Nnewi, Mrs Jane Umeugo, said they were able to discharge all malnourished children in the paediatrics section of the hospital within five days of taking the supplement, something that ordinarily takes two months or more.
This would be the fourth phase of the distribution since since the natural formula was officially introduced to the state last year.
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