By Usman Gwadabe
Kano State Coordinator of Alive and Thrive Project, Dr. Ashiru Hamza Muhammad has advocated for six months maternity leave for pregnant women in the state.
Dr. Muhammad made the advocacy during round table discussion with media organizations on promoting Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) organized by his organisation in collaboration with the state Ministry of Health, recently.
He also appealed that husbands should also be given two weeks to assist their wives during delivery.
Dr. Muhammad maintained that the gesture would enable the nursing mother to provide an infant with exclusive breastfeeding.
He stressed that human being milk is best for providing children with adequate nutrition.
The coordinator added that when children received proper breastfeeding, their brains would work efficiently, adding that they would also become very productive to themselves and the society.
The medical doctor reiterated that investing in the first 1,000 days of a child would surely improve human capital development.
On his part, the state Commissioner of Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa said that the role of media organizations in the fight against malnutrition in the state could not be over-emphasised.
The commissioner added that the workshop was intended to reiterate the importance of media in fighting malnutrition in the state.
Dr. Tsanyawa, who was represented by Director Public Health and Disease Control, Dr. Ashiru Rajab said the programme also aimed at building the capacity of journalists on how to enlighten the public on malnutrition and how they would support in preventing children from being malnourished.
He lamented that most of the parents do not have acknowledge on nutrition, revealing that this leads to rampant malnutrition among the citizens.
One of the facilitators, the Deputy Director Family Health in State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dietitian Murtala Muhammad Inuwa said nothing was important to infants than exclusive breastfeeding, revealing that all his children were well breastfed.
During the session, journalists advised the organizers to use public and private media in the state for aggressive enlightenment on the issue.
