The National Food and Nutrition Media Team has felicitated with Nigerians on the recognition of two of Nigerian’s best health administrators among the Best 100 Global Health Influencers by the Time Magazine in its forthcoming May edition.
They are the Minister of Health, Professor Mohammed Ali Pate (CON) and Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi (mni), the Director Nutrition at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Mr. Salem Akindele-Rock, the Nutrition Media Team described the honour as a recognition of the great work being down to reverse the global poor rating of Nigeria in the area of health, particularly Nutrition.
Akindele-Rock described the recognition as unprecedented and attributed it to the growing collaboration among various health sector stakeholders, particularly the integration of the media as a leading partner in health development and promotion.
He noted that the nomination of the Minister of Health, Professor Ali Pate, was occasioned by the present administration’s commitment to improved governance in the health sector which has birthed better health outcomes, unlocked healthcare value chains and bolstered health security.
He described Mrs Bako-Aiyegbusi as a seasoned Amazon who had blazed the trail from her days in health promotion and has led several high impact initiatives in nutrition within her short stay including strategic and focused implementation of the National Nutrition Policy, the rollout of the Multiple Micronutrient Supplement programme targeting pregnant women and the expansion of the large-scale food fortification programmes among several others.
Akindele-Rock however noted that the recognitions should not be seen as a sign that the country had scaled all the hurdles bedeviling the health sector, but an indication that steady progress was being made and this should thus birth a fresh commitment from the honourees to greater service to Nigerians in the area of health.
The National Food and Nutrition Media Team was inaugurated by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 as a strategic media partnership to galvanise private and public media interest and full participation in nutrition related issues in Nigeria.
