Mothers, whose children are affected by Severe Acute Malnutrition, (SAM) in Bauchi State have called on the state government to provide them with more Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
The mothers made the call when Journalists and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) on a field visit to one of Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) Centres.
CMAM in the state was facilitated by the International Society of Media in Public Health, (ISMPH).
Speaking to Journalists on the stock out of the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), 25year- old Zubaida Musa of Kirifi local government said the RUTF has been helping her child of 16 months and with the stock out of RUTF, her child’s condition is getting worse.
According to her, “I have been collecting the RUTF for my child for three weeks in the CMAM centre but for four weeks the RUTF now has been stock out”.
She then appealed to the state government to come to their aid by providing RUTF to their children who are suffering from SAM.
In his reaction, Officer in charge of primary health centre Kirfi, Babani Kobi, said the center has been giving RUTF to children with a weekly intake of between 2-5 with SAM since 2014 but four weeks now, the RUTF has been stocked out .
According to him , the use of RUTF has been very successful , adding that as from April-June 2019, the centre had to transfer two children to stabilisation centre, while two died in the process of treatment with others defaulting.
He called on both the state and local governments to provide the RUTF.
