• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • NAHCON

      Renewed Hope in Hajj Operations: NAHCON Records Milestone Achievements Under Tinubu…

      Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

      FG Reaffirms Non-Interference in ICPC, EFCC Operations

      ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

      Nigeria Customs Aligns with Finance Ministry over 4% FOB Policy Review

      Members Board of Directors of Dangote Refinery

      Dangote Refinery Deploys 4,000 CNG Trucks, Promises 24,000 Jobs as Fuel…

      Renewed Hope in Central Banking

      Book Review: Renewed Hope in Central Banking – A Blueprint for…

      NAHCON

      Renewed Hope in Hajj Operations: NAHCON Records Milestone Achievements Under Tinubu…

  • National
    • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

      Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, Legislators

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Saudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug Syndicate

      President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Minister of Women Affairs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim presenting a cheque to women

      Renewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister,…

      A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator Iroegbu

    • Government
      • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

        ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

        Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

        NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments,…

        MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief…

        President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Minister of Women Affairs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim presenting a cheque to women

        Renewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister,…

  • Security
    • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

      Police Officer

      Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms

      Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar,meets with Security Leaders in Beijing

      Badaru Joins Global Leaders at Beijing Forum on Peace, Security

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Saudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug Syndicate

      Military Troops in Action

      Troops Ambush Bandits in Plateau, Neutralise One 

  • Features
    • A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator Iroegbu

      A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity

      Engr. Suleiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka

      Engr. Kawu: A Heroic Homecoming for a Man of the People…

      Prof Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy

      Gombe Tech Training: Pantami’s Call for a Paradigm Shift By Muhd…

      Healing Nigeria: A Chronicle of Health Reforms

      Book Review: Is This the Cure? A Look into Healing Nigeria…

  • State
    • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

      Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

      NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments,…

      Police Officer

      Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Saudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug Syndicate

      MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief…

  • Event
    • Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

      NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments,…

      Flier for the programs that happened for the elderly by members of BUKAA FCT

      BUKAA FCT Appreciates Sponsors after Aerobics, Football Exercises

      Prof. Abubakar Mu’azu

      UNIMAID appoints Prof. Mu’azu as Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Communication

      NIPR President Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Baze University Management visits TETFUND, Showcases Tech-Driven Growth, National Impact

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Features Dying for Lack of Folic Acid, Zinc and Iron
  • Features

Dying for Lack of Folic Acid, Zinc and Iron

By
Suleiman Haruna
-
May 5, 2018

Dying for Lack of Folic Acid, Zinc and Iron

Each morning, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, Wife of the President of Nigeria wakes up with a picture of women and children struggling through challenges of hunger and sickness, having to choose between food and medication, sometimes losing both, battling lack of education and harmful cultural practices. More often than not, suffering permanent wounds and scars of these challenges, at other times, succumbing to the cold hands of death.

Each time, she would flash options in her mind, what to do, how to do it, who to do it with – all in a bid to ensure that one more life is saved, one more prospective contributor to national development. Is it easier to give women education or to empower them with self-reliance? How much impact can one make?

She has keyed into the RMNCAH+N Policy, (Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition) through her Future Assured Programme and has already made a lot of impact through advocacy campaigns on breastfeeding, deworming, killer diseases, complementing this with food, nutrition and medicinal aid, calling on government and privileged Nigerians to save more lives of women and children.

At a recent event she organized for the private sector, she spoke on the need for them to embrace RMNCAH+N as their Corporate Social Responsibility and advocated for Innovative partnerships for investment in the sector. She presented a portfolio of areas of support for them to choose from. Captains of industry attended, listened and keyed in. Most importantly, they understood the precarious lives that women and children go through because of lack of access to essential health services.

Every year in Nigeria, 58,000 women are said to die from pregnancy related complications; from excessive bleeding after child birth, to complications of hypertension in pregnancy, unsafe abortions, infections and obstructed labour. At the event, Mrs. Buhari stressed that interventions to save the lives of these women are low cost, but of high impact because with only N58,381 it is possible to save one pregnant woman from dying in the process of giving birth to another life. She requested private sector to join her in saving at least 5% of these each year over the next 5 years.

Also important, 839,500 children do not make it to their 5th birthday because of malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, HIV and malnutrition. N28,454 is required to save each of these children so that they can live their lives. Some of the interventions include simple prevention and treatment, case management, therapeutic foods, fortifications and the like, some as simple as zinc, vitamin A and folic acid. In fact, it has been established that folic acid taken before conception and in the first few months of pregnancy can prevent spina bifida and associated complications.

Read Also:

  • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director
  • NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier Exercise
  • Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms

Deficiency of these drugs causes problems for both the mother and the unborn child, Sometimes these deficiencies are attributed to poverty and illiteracy rather than lack of the drugs at the ante-natal clinics. A lot of mothers get to know the dangers only too late. Some of them, after suffering from a traumatic pregnancy and even child birth, now have to contend with a perpetually sick child, whose ailment can only be treated at a huge cost. Most of the support in this area is therefore slow and low.

This is why Mrs. Buhari has come in and supported the surgeries of eight children aged from a few months to 6 years. The surgeries were principally in three areas; Hydrocephalus, Encephalocele and Myelomeningocele.

Hydrocephalus results from complications of premature birth, diseases such as meningitis, tumors and traumatic head injury. It is typified by accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the brain. This fluid compresses the brain, causing neurological symptoms such as convulsions, intellectual disability and epileptic seizures. Fetuses, infants, and young children with hydrocephalus typically have an abnormally large head, excluding the face, because the pressure of the fluid causes the individual skull bones — which have yet to fuse — to bulge outward at their juncture points.

Encephaloceles causes a groove down the middle of the skull, or between the forehead and nose, or on the back side of the skull. Symptoms may include neurologic problems, cerebrospinal fluid accumulated in the brain, paralysis of the limbs, an abnormally small head, uncoordinated muscle movement, developmental delay, vision problems, mental and growth retardation, and seizures.

Myelomeningocele is the type of spina bifida that often results in the most severe complications. In individuals with myelomeningocele, the un-fused portion of the spinal column allows the spinal cord to protrude through an opening. The membranes that cover the spinal cord also protrude through the opening, forming a sac enclosing the spinal elements, such cerebrospinal fluid, and parts of the spinal cord and nerve roots.

These children have undergone successful surgeries so far, while others are receiving attention. Ya’u Usman, male, 9 months old had Hydrocephalus; Ma’aruf Abdulsalam, male, 3 months had Hydrocephalus and Myelomeningocele; Muhammad Auwal, male, 1 year old had Encephalocele. Nana Khadija Adamu, female, 1 year old, had Hydrocephalus and Myelomeningocele; Asmau Sabiu, female, 6 years old, had brain tumour and Hydrocephalus.

Mrs. Buhari’s acts of compassion continues to show the way for others to emulate. If the private sector can sponsor one hundred or one thousand lives of women and children, then our collective humanity has been proven, our women and children will have a chance be full and not temporary members of our national reality.

uleiman Haruna

Director of Information

to Wife of the President
State House
VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
Previous articleBayelsa Police Nab Young Armed Robbers
Next article36 States: Police Recruits to Undergo HIV Screening, Pregnancy Test, Special JAMB Exam
Suleiman Haruna
Suleiman Haruna
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator Iroegbu

A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity

Engr. Suleiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka

Engr. Kawu: A Heroic Homecoming for a Man of the People By Adegboyega Ajadi

Prof Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy

Gombe Tech Training: Pantami’s Call for a Paradigm Shift By Muhd El-Bonga Ibraheem

Healing Nigeria: A Chronicle of Health Reforms

Book Review: Is This the Cure? A Look into Healing Nigeria By Hanniel Noboh

Diplomacy and Digital Innovation – Youth Insight

Book Review: Reshaping Diplomacy Through Digital Innovation – A Gen-Z Outlook By Bilkisu Ahmed Shekarau

Renewed Hope in Central Banking

Book Review: Renewed Hope in Central Banking – A Blueprint for Nigeria’s Economic Future By Khadijah Lawan Muhammad

Charlie Kirk

Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri Idakwo Laruba

Omoyele Sowore, Bayo Ononuga and Adeola Ajayi

Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach

Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

Traffic officials tolling the vehicle at the scene in Abuja

SPECIAL REPORT: Extortion, Blood and Impunity Behind Abuja’s Agbero Menace

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Log in to leave a comment

Recent Posts

  • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC
  • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director
  • NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier Exercise
  • Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms
  • Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, Legislators
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin DirectorNAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier ExerciseKaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of FirearmsTinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, LegislatorsBadaru Joins Global Leaders at Beijing Forum on Peace, SecuritySaudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug SyndicateTroops Ambush Bandits in Plateau, Neutralise One MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief Imam of OyoRenewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-IbrahimNigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator IroegbuNigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and InsecurityNavy Retrains Personnel on Weapon Handling to Boost Operational EfficiencyFirefighters Rescue Nine Victims from Burning 6-Storey Building in LagosPolice Arrest Seven over Death of IBB University Student, Nab Four Robbery Suspects in SulejaCourt Reaffirms ICPC's Power on Investigation of Kano Scholarship Funds
X whatsapp