From Muawuya Bala Idris, Katsina
The Katsina State Government has announced plans to establish a task force to address the illegal sale and misuse of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) meant for treating malnourished children.
Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Shamsudeen Yahaya, disclosed this during the official launch of the 2025 Smart Nutrition Survey, supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The event, held at Hillside Hotel in Katsina, was attended by representatives of donor agencies, local government chairmen, directors of health, traditional rulers, and officials from the state Ministry of Health.
Yahaya decried the trend of parents and some health workers selling or misusing the therapeutic food, describing it as illegal and one of the key factors contributing to the rising cases of malnutrition among children in the state.
“Selling or misusing therapeutic food is a criminal offence. The government will take decisive action against anyone found selling RUTF in any market or location within the state,” he warned.
The Executive Secretary also spoke extensively on government efforts to address malnutrition. He said in 2023, the state released N200 million, followed by an additional N300 million in 2024 as matching grants to UNICEF for malnutrition interventions. For 2025, the state has budgeted another N500 million to strengthen the fight against child malnutrition.
He added that the government would intensify support for primary health centres across the 361 political wards in the state to ensure adequate prevention and treatment of malnutrition. According to him, a multi-sectoral approach involving the ministries of Health, Education, Women Affairs, and Local Government will be adopted to improve coordination and results.
Yahaya described the Smart Nutrition Survey as an annual event that provides credible data to guide policy decisions aimed at improving child nutrition and wellbeing.
Also speaking, the State Coordinator of the ARIN Project, Dr Umar Bello, announced that about N700 million would be deployed under the project to prevent malnutrition.
He revealed that 1,000 health workers had already been trained, with interventions reaching about three million mothers across the state.
Reacting to a recent report by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), which claimed that 650 children had died from acute malnutrition in the state, Dr Bello dismissed the figure as inaccurate.
“The number is not balanced and should be ignored. It does not reflect the actual situation on the ground,” he said.
In his remarks, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist for the Kano Field Office, Mr Oluniyi Oyedokun, disclosed that the organisation would provide N500 million this year to support nutrition programmes in Katsina.
He assured that the 2025 Smart Survey would receive full backing from UNICEF to ensure accurate data collection and improved efforts to eliminate child malnutrition in the state.
