Health
CS-SUNN Urges Govts To Prioritise Domestic Funding In Fight Against Anaemia
By Mercy Sawok
The Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) has called on the federal and state governments to prioritise domestic financing, accountability and effective implementation of nutrition interventions to reduce anaemia among women and children.
Mr Sunday Okoronkwo, Executive Secretary, CS-SUNN, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at a biannual media conference on the anaemia situation in Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that anaemia is a condition in which the blood has too little haemoglobin or healthy red blood cells to carry enough oxygen around the body.
Okoronkwo said stronger financing and accountability were needed to ensure that government commitments on nutrition translated into actual services and commodities for vulnerable populations.
He urged the federal and state governments to provide dedicated and protected budget lines for nutrition interventions, ensure timely release of approved funds and strengthen expenditure tracking, routine audits and public reporting.
He also called for the integration of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) into routine Primary Health Care commodity and procurement systems to improve availability and address recurrent stock-outs.
Earlier, Dr Clementina Okoro, Head of Nutrition, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, said the Federal Government remained committed to improving the nutritional and health status of Nigerians.
Okoro, who was represented by Mrs Christiana Yunana, Assistant Director, Nutrition Department, described anaemia as a major public health challenge, particularly among women and children, with implications for health, learning, productivity and socio-economic development.
She said the government was implementing the Revised National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035 and reviewing the National Multisectoral Plan of Action 2026–2030.
According to her, the revised policy targets a reduction in anaemia among women of reproductive age from 47 per cent in 2024 to 30 per cent or below by 2035, while interim targets include reducing the prevalence to 38 per cent by 2029 and 34 per cent by 2032.
Also, Mrs Adegbite Olufunmilola, the Director, Nutrition Department, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, described anaemia as a serious challenge affecting millions of children, pregnant women and women of reproductive age.
She said the condition, which is largely preventable through effective interventions and stronger health systems, remains prevalent among pregnant women, with prevalence above 50 per cent.
According to her, MMS, alongside Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation (IFAs), remain important interventions for preventing anaemia and improving birth outcomes.
She urged more states to adopt MMS, noting that about 10 of the 37 states, including the FCT, had so far keyed into the initiative.
She also called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders and the promotion of affordable IFAs to ensure that pregnant women had access to essential nutrition interventions.
Similarly, Major Edith Nwachchinaemere, Chairman, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), FCT Chapter, said anaemia should be treated as a national development priority rather than merely a medical or nutrition issue.
Nwachchinaemere said anaemia could affect learning and development among children, compromise the educational potential of adolescent girls and pose risks to mothers and babies when women enter pregnancy anaemic.
She called for stronger coordination across sectors, sustainable nutrition financing, improved access to quality health and nutrition services, promotion of diverse and iron-rich diets and effective micronutrient interventions.
Presenting the technical findings of a new formative research study, Prof. Kola Anigo, National Coordinator, Academic and Research Network Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (ARN-SUNN), said 16 of the 21 focal states had committed counterpart funding to the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF).
Anigo said the funding would enable the states to leverage UNICEF matching grants for the scale-up of MMS.
The study, titled “Formative Study to Examine Baseline for Anaemia Funding Commitment Through the Child Nutrition Fund and Level of Multiple Micronutrient Supplement Uptake Across CS-SUNN Focus and UNICEF Supported States,” examined government and partner financing commitments for anaemia prevention and CNF implementation.
It also assessed the uptake of MMS across the states.
Amigo said that in spite of policy commitments, a significant gap remained between budgetary allocation and actual fund disbursement.
He said 61 per cent of the focal states reported zero CNF disbursements in 2024 even though they had approved budget lines.
“Financing challenge is not only about how much Nigeria commits on paper; it is whether those resources are released predictably, tracked transparently, and converted into physical commodities at the last mile,” he said.
He said the study showed that 90.6 per cent of women surveyed attended antenatal care during their most recent pregnancy, but only 25.2 per cent achieved the eight antenatal contacts recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
He said the study further showed that only 42 per cent of women commenced their first antenatal visit during the first trimester, potentially limiting opportunities for early anaemia screening and intervention.
On uptake, 62.9 per cent received MMS where available and 53 per cent reported taking them daily.
He said the study found that 92.1 per cent of respondents were willing to take MMS again in future pregnancies, indicating strong acceptance, but only 39.4 per cent of health workers reported that MMS was always available, while 18.3 per cent reported frequent stock-outs.
Amigo said 24.7 per cent of respondents reported that resupply took more than two months after stock depletion, while only 51.3 per cent of frontline health workers had received formal MMS training and 39.1 per cent had no job aids to support counselling and delivery.
On accountability, he said the study showed that only 49.8 per cent of health workers were aware of the CNF, while 37.3 per cent knew of CNF-supported activities in their facilities or communities.
At the state level, he said only 42.3 per cent of respondents reported the availability of financial or audit reports for the fund.
NAN reports that the study recommended that state governments should institutionalise MMS, strengthen accountability mechanisms, build the capacity of frontline health workers and intensify community demand generation to prevent recurrent stock-outs at primary healthcare facilities.
It also called for stronger counterpart financing by states, timely release of approved funds, improved commodity monitoring and prioritisation of rural and hard-to-reach communities.
It stressed that closing the gaps between budget appropriation and disbursement, procurement and availability as well as utilisation, would be critical to reducing anaemia among women and children.(NAN)
Edited by Abujah Racheal/Folasade Akpan
