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The Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (popularly known as LISDEL) is an independent, non-profit organisation committed to safeguarding a reality that translates to a decent quality of life for Nigerians.
Providing Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) for severely malnourished children. 1 child, 3 sachet daily.
GOAL: to treat 100,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) across the focal States.
RUTF is an energy-packed, mineral- and vitamin-enriched meal that does not require any preparation and is specifically made to treat severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
It can be consumed easily by children 6 months and above. It can be stored and used safely at home without refrigeration and in areas where hygiene conditions are not optimal.
The Nigerian Human Capital Index reported in 2020 as 0.36[1], further reflects the underinvestment in the health of Nigerians. One key index that intrinsically impacts on the Human Capital Index and under-five (U5) mortality is the prevalence of malnutrition, wasting and stunting in the country.
Reports show that Nigeria has a national stunting prevalence rate of 32 percent of children under five thus placing Nigeria with the second highest burden of stunted children in the world. 42.8 per cent of children in the North-east are suffering from stunting while 29.7 per cent, 20.4 per cent, 20.8 per cent and 17.2 per cent of children in the North-central, South-west, South-south and South-east are stunted.
More so, an estimated 2 million children in Nigeria are recorded to suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). However, only two out of every 10 children affected are currently reached with the needed treatment. [2]
A UNICEF report predicts that about 300,000 children would die from severe acute malnutrition if untreated
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are the most critical.[3] They present a unique window of opportunity for preventing malnutrition and its consequences such as delay in physical growth and motor development; low intelligence levels (IQ), increased susceptibility to behavioral problems and contracting diseases; and ultimately preventing the child from reaching their full physical and mental potential[4].
With most of the funding to address the spate of malnutrition in Nigeria being contributed by partners and donors amidst suboptimal public funding for health, it therefore becomes highly imperative to provide a sustainable solution which would mitigate the unmet nutrition need by providing Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
[1] Human Capital Index (HCI) (scale 0-1) – Nigeria | Data. 2021. Human Capital Index (HCI) (scale 0-1) – Nigeria | Data. [ONLINE] Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/HD.HCI.OVRL?locations=NG. [Accessed 15 September 2021]
[2] Nutrition | UNICEF Nigeria. 2021. Nutrition | UNICEF Nigeria. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/nutrition. [Accessed 15 September 2021].
[3]https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/media/551/file/ZAF-First-1000-days-brief-2017.pdf
[4] Black R, Morris S, Jennifer B: Where and Why Are 10 Million Children Dying Every Year?. The Lancet. 2003, 361: 2226-2234. 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13779-8.
For Nigerians, by Nigerians – Raising funds to secure health insurance for the most vulnerable population group.
GOAL: to purchase health insurance for 5% of vulnerable Nigerians across the pilot focal States.
The aim of Project Reach is to identify the most vulnerable households in Nigeria as distributed within States, create and manage a database and purchase health insurance packages with funds raised for beneficiaries.
This intervention is to support States in ensuring equitable access to basic health care services for vulnerable groups and jointly attain UHC goals in Nigeria.
Challenged by an ever-increasing disease burden underpinned by a poorly performing and suboptimal financed health system, Nigeria’s progress towards health for all remains a distant reality. With severe public under-investment in critical pillars of the health system further complicated by dwindling resources, the country’s poor performance in health outcomes is somewhat expected.
Nigeria’s health financing indicators show that households in Nigeria contribute about 77.5 percent of Total Expenditure on Health while insurance including National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) manages between 4-5% of the Total Health Expenditure[1]. This renders households vulnerable to financial catastrophe.
Recent studies show that out-of-pocket-expense (OOPE) health payments have led to 0.8% rise in the poverty headcount.[2] This implies that an average of 1.3 million Nigerians are further impoverished by being pushed below the poverty line.
According to the National Health Accounts 2017[3], Government health expenditure per capita stood at ₦3,786.00 ($12), a far cry from the World Health Organization’s $86 benchmark.
In the same vein, Government health expenditure as a share of GDP was 0.7% which is below the recommended 5%.
In the wake of poor financial coverage provided by the existing social protection models despite the decentralization of health insurance[4], Nigerians are left in control of their fate as regards financing rising costs of access to quality health services.
It then becomes imperative that alongside public sector investments in health, a predictable, and sustainable healthcare financing intervention from private sector contributions be key in providing and managing the health financing of the most vulnerable groups in Nigeria.
[1] International Journal of Health and Life Sciences. 2021. Towards Universal Health Coverage: An Analysis of the Health Insurance Coverage in Nigeria | International Journal of Health and Life Sciences | Full Text. [ONLINE] Available at: https://sites.kowsarpub.com/ijhls/articles/108727.html. [Accessed 15 September 2021].
[2] Aregbeshola, B. S., & Khan, S. M. (2018). Out-of-Pocket Payments, Catastrophic Health Expenditure and Poverty Among Households in Nigeria 2010. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(9), 798–806. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2018.19
[3]https://www.health.gov.ng/doc/FINAL-VERSION-NHA-2017.pdf
[4] Decentralizing Health Insurance in Nigeria: Legal Framework for State…. 2021. Decentralizing Health Insurance in Nigeria: Legal Framework for State…. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/HFGProject/decentralizing-health-insurance-in-nigeria-legal-framework-for-state-health-insurance-schemes. [Accessed 15 September 2021].
By donating any amount of your choice to LISDEL, you help make our other charitable causes come through.
GOAL: to fund and implement other proposed interventions across its other thematic areas: Education, Agriculture, Human Capital Development (HCD) and Open Governance. This requires sufficient financial resources.
As with most NGOs when called upon, LISDEL collaborates as a ‘Funding Partner’ in implementing projects that align with its policy and goals. This requires financial commitments.
It also offers Technical Assistance to both public and private sector organizations.
The overall administration, leadership and management of all projects and interventions by LISDEL, is the responsibility of LISDEL.
10% of each donation will however be set aside as administrative charge to manage the fund, while 1% will be used to offset any fundraising event geared towards that activity.