The National Economic Council (NEC) Wednesday endorsed the N-774 programme as a primary platform for combating malnutrition within Nigerian communities and encouraged development partners to provide financial and technical assistance, particularly in the areas of annual results monitoring and scaling successful interventions.
The NEC endorsed the programme at its 144th meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following a presentation on the state of nutrition in Nigeria by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate.
The council agreed to prioritise nutrition interventions in the 2025 budget across federal, state and local levels and ensure that sufficient funding is allocated to meet the country’s nutrition goals.
The council resolved to reinforce the functionality and financing of State and Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition.
The council also stressed the need for broad support for the establishment and operation of Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) task forces at subnational levels to ensure effective coordination, monitoring and reporting.
In response to a presentation by co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, the council resolved to establish a Committee on the Eradication of Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus (VDPV) following reports of cases in Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states.
The committee woud be chaired by the Governor of Gombe state and will include the governors of the five affected states as members.
Other members of the comiittee are the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, the Director-General of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and representatives from NEC Secretariat and UNICEF.
The Special Advisers to the President on NEC and Climate Change, the Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, a representative of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, and the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum would also serve as members of the committee.
The committee would be reporting monthly to NEC.