ROMA – One in four children under 5 years of age is malnourished in Shinkafi and Zurmi areas of Zamfara State, Nigeria. This is the result of a mass screening conducted in June by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Ministry of Health, which reveals that malnutrition rates are above the critical level established by theWorld Health Organization (WHO). After the alarm raised months ago MSF urges health authorities, international organisations and donors to step up efforts to address the malnutrition crisis in Zamfara state and across northwest Nigeria, a region not yet included in the UN Humanitarian Response Plan.
Over 97 thousand children visited. E’ In 21 different urban and rural locations, 27 per cent are suffering from acute malnutrition and 5 per cent from severe acute malnutrition, and stocks of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to treat these children are running out, as UNICEF stopped supplies earlier this year.
The screening results are alarming. “The screening results are nothing short of alarming and reveal a catastrophic nutritional crisis across North-West Nigeria” says Abdullahi Mohammad, MSF representative in Nigeria. “The response to this dire situation is grossly inadequate. With malnutrition rates exceeding critical levels and no immediate treatment available for acute malnutrition, other than in MSF facilities, we are effectively allowing more children to reach life-threatening conditions. It is crucial to ensure that every child receives the medical care they desperately need.”
It is urgent to save human lives. There is an immediate need to expand health facilities to care for malnourished children and to ensure that more hospitals can provide the hospital care needed to save lives. In addition, theUNICEFas the main provider of therapeutic food, must ensure a constant and adequate supply of essential therapeutic food to prevent more children from becoming victims of this crisis.
The facilities managed by MSF. MSF currently runs four inpatient and 17 outpatient facilities in Shinkafi, Zurmi, Gummi and Talata Mafara, Zamfara state. Across all four facilities, MSF teams have treated over 7,000 children from January to July 2024, a 34% increase compared to the same period in 2023. In the areas of Shinkafi and Zurmi, where the recent malnutrition screening was conducted, the increase in admissions is 50% higher than in the same period the previous year. In the medical facility in Gummi, admissions in July 2024 have almost doubled compared to the same month the previous year.
The spread of measles. In addition to the significant increase in admissions for malnutrition, MSF teams are seeing a high number of children suffering from vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles. In Zamfara, at least 5,700 cases of measles have been treated this year. Infectious diseases such as measles, malaria and acute watery diarrhoea seriously compromise the nutritional status of children, as malnutrition makes them more vulnerable and thus increases the risk of mortality.
MSF in Nigeria. The organization has been working in Nigeria since 1996. In the western regions, teams currently work in 28 outpatient therapeutic feeding centres and seven inpatient centres in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kano and Kebbi states. In the northeast of Nigeria, MSF teams work in Maiduguri hospital in Borno state and Kafin Madaki hospital in Bauchi state. In 2023, MSF teams across Nigeria treated 202,083 malnourished children in outpatient feeding programmes and provided inpatient care to 52,124 children with severe acute malnutrition.
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– 2024-09-15 00:47:50
