Anaemia Is Stealing Nigeria’s Future Says CS-SUNN, Urges Media to Drive Prevention
By Uangbaoje Alex, Kaduna
Anaemia continues to quietly endanger the lives of millions of Nigerian women and children, despite being one of the most preventable and treatable nutrition challenges in the country.
This concern took centre stage at a three-day high-level media capacity-building workshop organised by Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), themed “Media as Catalysts for an Anaemia-Free Nigeria.”
Speaking at the opening in Abuja on Tuesday, CS-SUNN Executive Secretary Sunday Okoronkwo warned that anaemia is not just a health issue but a national development crisis, contributing to maternal deaths, poor child development, reduced productivity, and intergenerational poverty.
“Women and children bear the heaviest burden of anaemia, yet they often have no voice. This is why the media is critical to speak for the vulnerable and demand action from those in power.
“Despite its devastating impact, anaemia can be prevented through timely interventions such as improved nutrition, access to quality antenatal care, and the scale-up of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS).
MMS provides essential nutrients that support healthy pregnancies, reduce low birth weight, and improve survival outcomes for both mothers and babies,” he said.
Okoronkwo also expressed concern over frequent stock-outs of life-saving commodities such as MMS and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) in primary healthcare centres, describing the situation as avoidable and unacceptable.
“These gaps persist not because solutions are unavailable, but because prevention is not prioritised,” he noted.
Reinforcing the workshop’s message, Lilian Okafor, Senior Communications Officer at CS-SUNN, challenged media professionals to move beyond statistics and tell the human stories behind anaemia.
“The fight against anaemia will not be won in hospitals alone. It will be won in newsrooms, on radio, online platforms, and in the stories that shape public understanding and policy decisions,” she said.
Also speaking, Peter Olushola, Communications and Campaign Manager at CS-SUNN, explained that the training aims to equip journalists with the knowledge and tools to report accurately on anaemia, track government commitments, spotlight gaps in service delivery, and sustain public attention on prevention efforts, particularly MMS scale-up.
As Nigeria grapples with rising nutrition challenges, CS-SUNN emphasised that preventing anaemia is far cheaper, smarter, and more humane than responding after lives have already been put at risk, and the media has a decisive role to play in ensuring that prevention becomes a national priority.
