Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State government in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has inaugurated two stabilisation centres to tackle Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) bedeviling children in the state.
The SAM treatment centres located in Dutsin-Ma and Funtua General Hospitals, are funded by the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by UNICEF.
A Nutritionist with UNICEF, Mr. Oluniyi Oyedokun, who stated this during a training organised for health workers in Katsina, said the functional stabilisation centres would treat children with SAM complicated cases.
While reiterating that the centres would provide 24-hour services, Oyedokun added that UNICEF is currently treating malnourished children in 12 local government areas of the state “and the children can now be referred to the two centres.”
He said: “The centres will be provided only for the affected children to be treated until the complications that brought them to the centre are treated, which means they are not going to stay at the centre for the whole length of the treatment.
“But we just want them to be managed and stabilised, that is why we called it a stabilisation centre. We want them to be stabilised because they went due to some medical complications.
“For instance, maybe they don’t have an appetite, which means we want the appetite now to return, so that they can now start eating with their mouths. That’s a medical complication.
“Maybe their legs, hands or face are swollen, so when they go there, they will resolve it until they are no longer there. These are some of the examples of the medical complications.
“When the complications are resolved, then they can now be referred to the nearest primary health care where they came from.”
Earlier, the State General Manager, Hospital Management Board, Dr. Abduljalil Umar, explained that 18 health workers were undergoing training and would be posted to the stabilisation centres after the capacity building training.
