Horrors of starving children in Nigeria
THE wave of violence, including kidnappings for ransom and frequent confrontations between various armed groups and Nigerian forces in the Katsina State, has contributed to high levels of malnutrition.
This is according to the global medical rescue organisation, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which said the conflict made it difficult to respond to the crisis.
They have now launched a new programme in collaboration with the Nigerian ministry of health to treat malnourished children.
They will run a 62-bed inpatient therapeutic treatment centre (ITFC) in Katsina City, as well as five ambulatory (outpatient) therapeutic treatment centres (ATFCs): one in Katsina City and four in Jibia local government area, close to the border with Niger.
Dr Guyguy Manangama, MSF’s deputy emergency cell manager said: “Agricultural activities are impacted, travel is more difficult, and the cost of food therefore increases.
“The population is also facing an economic crisis driven by several factors, including the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The provision of health care is increasingly complicated: medical staff can be targets for kidnapping, and they fear attacks on medical centres.
“The insecurity means that we cannot travel to all the areas where we would like to offer care.”
Malnutrition is endemic in northern Nigeria, with the season usually ending around October.
“The fact that we are not yet seeing the number of admissions drop in our centres leads us both to worry about how severe the situation is now, and how it will develop if the response is not stepped up,” said Manangama.
“Insecurity is a real issue in the area, but more must be done by international organisations to help the Nigerian authorities deal with this worrying situation.”
The organisation has admitted 4 513 malnourished children, 78% of whom were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, since the beginning of the activities in Jibia in August.
These numbers were “strikingly high” given that these centres were only working two days a week due to security concerns, said the organisation.
About 1 784 severely malnourished children were admitted to the ATFC and 324 to the ITFC in Katsina city from the beginning of activities on September 20 to the last week of October.
“In the summer we carried out a nutritional survey in Katsina that revealed alarmingly high levels of malnutrition. According to this survey, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition was 26.1%, and severe acute malnutrition was 7.4%,” said Manangama.
“We also found that there were few
options for parents in the area to access malnutrition care, the effect of which we see across the border in Niger: around 60% of the children admitted to our nutrition programme in
Madarounfa district are from Nigeria.”
Elsewhere in north-west Nigeria, MSF said they were also running nutritional activities in Zamfara state, with three ITFCs in Anka, Shinkafi, and
Zurmi local government areas, and 12 ATFCs spread throughout the state.
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