From January to April 2025, an international medical humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has treated 27,868 children suffering from malnutrition in Bauchi—a 34.5% increase compared to the 20,721 children seen during the same period in 2024.
The disclosure was made by MSF’s outgoing Head of Mission in Nigeria, Adam Ousmane Ngari, while speaking to Journalists in Bauchi.
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He said that the organisation has implemented the Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) approach in Eight villages within Ganjuwa Local Government Area.
Adams Ousmane Ngari disclosed that MSF has therefore launched new strategies in Bauchi State aimed at improving access to healthcare for vulnerable populations in remote areas.
According to him, “The iCCM approach trains and supports community health workers (CHWs) to diagnose and treat common childhood illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea at the community level.”
In addition, MSF has introduced a “family-led MUAC” initiative, which empowers parents to screen their children for malnutrition at home.
“We introduced the family-led MUAC approach, enabling mothers and caregivers to detect early signs of malnutrition in their children using a user-friendly MUAC tape,” Ngari said.
This initiative shifts a role traditionally reserved for health workers to families, allowing them to take proactive steps in monitoring their children’s health and seeking medical care early when signs of malnutrition appear.
The Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) method involves using a simple tape to measure the circumference of a child’s upper arm to assess their nutritional status.
Ousmane Ngari noted that one of the major challenges MSF faces is the late presentation of children at health facilities.
Many of the children admitted already suffer from complications such as kwashiorkor with skin lesions, respiratory infections, or malaria, which complicate the treatment of malnutrition.
“Early detection is critical, as malnutrition remains a leading cause of child mortality,” he emphasised.
In Bauchi State, MSF collaborates with the State Ministry of Health to combat malnutrition.
The organisation operates a 250-bed inpatient therapeutic feeding centre in Kafin Madaki, Ganjuwa LGA, where children suffering from severe malnutrition receive medical care.
During peak malnutrition periods, the centre’s capacity is increased to 350 beds to accommodate the surge in cases.
MSF also runs three outpatient therapeutic feeding programs at primary healthcare centres in Kafin Madaki, Kafin Liman, and Miya.
These efforts include ten inpatient facilities and more than thirty outpatient feeding centres dedicated to treating children with moderate and severe malnutrition.
However, hospital admissions for malnutrition-related complications decreased by 4.8% over the same timeframe.
Nationwide, MSF operates nutrition projects in seven states: Borno, Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi.
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