UNICEF has released a strategic framework focused on improving maternal nutrition in response to the increasing prevalence of anaemia in teenage girls and women and low birth weight in infants. Nigeria is one of the 16 nations that UNICEF has designated as having a pressing issue, suggesting the need for immediate action.
“16 countries have three things in common – a high prevalence of anaemia in adolescent girls and women, a high prevalence of low birth weight in infants, and an enabling policy and programme environment,” UNICEF said.
The multi-country strategic framework, titled “Improving Maternal Nutrition: An Acceleration Plan to Prevent Malnutrition and Anemia During Pregnancy,” aims to address maternal malnutrition comprehensively. The strategy, which aims to provide vital nutrition services to 16 million girls and women in these countries by 2025, marks a watershed moment in world health.
The countries enlisted in this initiative include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Nigeria.
UNICEF states that approximately 36% of expectant mothers, or over 32 million women worldwide, suffer from anaemia, emphasising the seriousness of the situation. This illness is primarily caused by iron shortages and a lack of other vital minerals in their diets. Furthermore, nutritional anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies offer serious dangers during pregnancy and lactation, jeopardising women’s lives and health while also increasing the incidence of stillbirths and newborn mortality.
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