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The Nigerian Exchange Group, in partnership with the Health Emergency Initiative and the Lagos State Government, has launched Project B.L.O.O.M. (Bringing Life to Our Overlooked Minors) to combat rising cases of child malnutrition. The initiative, which began at Aiyetoro Health Centre, Health District IV in Yaba, aims to reduce the alarming rates of malnutrition among children under the age of five.
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*Dr. Oludolapo Sotunde, Director of Medical Services and Disease Control for the Lagos State Health District:* “The efforts are beyond providing nutritional aid. It also involves education, monitoring, and follow-up, with local primary healthcare centres and government structures helping to track the progress of each child after the intervention. We have people called malnutrition trackers. They go into the community and look for all these children; some of them might not just come to the health facility for whatever reason. So they go and fish out all these children and bring them here.”
The first phase of the project targeted 350 children across six local government areas, including Lagos Mainland, Yaba, Apapa, and Lagos Island. The intervention focuses on providing locally available food and teaching mothers how to prepare it to make it nutritious for their children.
*Pascal Achunine, Executive Director of Health Emergency District:* “The journey started about four months ago when we were approached by the Nigeria Stock Exchange seeking collaboration on a CSR programme that impacts the pain points of people who are vulnerable in society. Working together, we came up with this programme called Project B.L.O.O.M, bringing life to our overlooked minors. Today alone, close to 100 were assisted. They will go home with ready-to-use meals of therapeutic food, as we call it.”
Achunine emphasised the importance of addressing malnutrition, stating that it has severe implications for children’s health and development. “Malnutrition has a lot of implications, stating that most deaths affecting children in the age bracket 0-5 are a result of malnutrition.”
The event concluded with children and mothers being fed and given foodstuffs to support their needs. Beneficiaries expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the hosts, with one mother saying, “I was invited by my landlady’s child to the event. I left my work to be here because of the benefits. Thank you; they will continue to grow.” Another mother added, “Most of the food my child loves to eat, like biscuits and noodles, are chemically produced; the ones they taught us about have been helpful. Thank you for taking care of us.
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