Leadership (Abuja)
Abdulazeez Sani
15 October 2008
Following the global food crisis, over 100 million people in the world are said to be at the risk of starvation. The National President of Nigeria Nurses and midwives, Comrade Lawal Hussaini Dutsinma, stated this in Mina yesterday at a press briefing to mark the 5th Biennial/ 4th Quadrennial, National Delegates Conference. Dutsinma who quoted World Bank statistics, said a sharp increase in food prices over the past one year has been felt all over the world. He stated that the problem was caused by droughts in the major grain producing nations and rising oil prices. According to him, other causes include increase in the prices of fertilizer, transportation of food products and industrial agriculture and the increasing use of bio fuels in developing countries, as well as falling food stockpiles. The president noted that poverty, heightened by the present global food crisis, was having a devastating effect on the health of families.
Dutsinma also observed with grave concern the craving of many Nigerians for Western diets and canned food, which, he said, put the so-called rich people at the risk of diabetes, obesity, ulcer, among others. He stated that poverty and ignorance hindered the consumption of adequate nutrients from local foods. He explained that "against this backdrop, it has become pertinent for nurses to take a leading role in counseling families on the nutritional needs from available local content." The theme of this year's conference is "Global Food Crisis, Poverty and The Implications on Family Health."
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