The Federal Government has set up a National Advisory Committee on Micronutrient Deficiency and Control while unveiling new policy frameworks to drive coordinated action across key sectors.
Deputy Director, Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Alaba Balogun disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
Balogun noted that the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, while speaking at the 2025 National Micronutrient Conference in Abuja, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was determined to move from fragmented nutrition initiatives to a synchronized, evidence-based national response that guarantees adequate nutrition for Nigerians, especially women, children, and vulnerable groups.
The conference, themed “Strengthening Resilient Systems for Addressing Micronutrient Deficiencies in Nigeria,” brought together key stakeholders from health, agriculture, development partners, civil society, academia and sub-national actors to chart a renewed pathway in addressing what Prof. Pate described as a silent but devastating threat to human capital and national productivity.
He warned that recent national surveys reveal persistent anaemia, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as unacceptable levels of child malnutrition across the country. “We must now translate evidence into action. The talk is cheap; what matters is what we do from here,” he said.
Pate stressed that the Federal Government was scaling up food fortification, dietary diversification, micronutrient supplementation as well as strengthening the primary healthcare platform to reach underserved communities.
According to him, the government had mobilised millions of multiple micronutrient supplement doses for pregnant women, strengthened health workforce capacity, expanded nutrition services through the World Bank-supported Accelerating Results in Nigeria (ARIN) project, and institutionalised nutrition demonstration corners in health facilities nationwide.
The newly inaugurated advisory committee, he explained, would serve as a multi-sectoral platform to monitor implementation, advise government on priority actions, and close existing gaps using national evidence, including the Micronutrient Survey FG Inaugurates Advisory Committee To Tackle Micronutrient Deficiency.
