Center for severely malnourished children opened in Maiduguri

The international medical humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders, has opened a new in-patient treatment center for severely malnourished under-five children in Gwange, Maiduguri.

The new building replaces the tents that previously housed the in-patient therapeutic feeding center, first opened in June 2016, which was destroyed by a storm in May.

More than 400 severely malnourished children per month are treated free of charge in the 72-bed facility that contains an emergency room, intensive care unit and units for acute and transition phases of malnutrition. More than 750 children with less severe forms of malnutrition receive biweekly care and supply of therapeutic food at an ambulatory therapeutic feeding center.

The project coordinator, Amande Bazerolle, said, “We are receiving a lot of patients who are in a really bad condition, not only from Maiduguri but also from displaced families living in camps or with the host population. There was not a lot of care available for malnutrition in Maiduguri before our arrival more than two years ago. There have since been improvements concerning the nutrition situation and availability of care, but the needs are still huge.”

Doctors Without Borders runs a total of five nutrition projects in Maiduguri. Each week, the organization admits around 140 children to its in-patient treatment centers, and around 4,500 children are receiving care in its outpatient feeding programs across the city.

The organisation has been providing medical care in response to the conflict-related emergency in Borno State since the middle of 2014. It has permanent teams based in Maiduguri, Monguno, Pulka, Dikwa, Gwoza, Ngala and Rann.