§ 66. Mr. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the fact that the occurrence of malnutrition in Nigeria has been definitely established, what steps he is taking to eradicate it.
§ Mr. ProfumoThis is a matter for the Nigerian Governments. They have established a Federal Nutrition Unit, and regional nutrition committees to carry out field and laboratory investigations. Plans for increased staff have been drawn up to enable all food analysis to be done locally in future.
Dietary and clinical research is being undertaken at Ibadan and elsewhere and, following consultations with experts from F.A.O. and W.H.O. further intensive research is planned. Agricultural staff are co-operating fully in the work.
The public are being taught, by Press articles and radio talks and by adult education classes, how best to select food and prepare it. Advice is also given by my Department and by the Applied Nutrition Unit in London in helping to combat this serious problem.