No fewer than 61,200 children are suffering from malnutrition and other medical complications in the northwestern zone of Nigeria as a result of banditry and other insecurity activities in the region.
This information was contained in a press statement issued, signed, and made available to Tribune Online by Mr Abdulkareem Yakubu, the Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) field communication officer, in Dutse, Jigawa state.
The statement highlighted that the “malnutrition crisis is escalating in northwest Nigeria, prompting the international medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to reinforce its activities in the zone.”
According to the statement, “Between January and May this year, MSF teams in northwest Nigeria provided inpatient care to 10,200 severely malnourished children with medical complications and admitted 51,000 children to its outpatient feeding programs.”
Mr Abdulkareem Yakubu further noted that “MSF has opened three new outpatient therapeutic feeding centres, in addition to the 10 inpatient centres and 32 outpatient centres that it already manages across Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara states.”
The international organization warned that the current humanitarian response is insufficient to avert a potential catastrophe in the coming months, as inpatient admissions were 26 per cent higher than in the same period in 2022, which were already unprecedently high.
The statement further stated, “Northwest Nigeria has some of the worst health indicators in the country. Escalating levels of violence in recent years have contributed to turning an alarming malnutrition situation into a full-blown crisis. Armed groups regularly raid towns, loot property, and kidnap local people for ransom.”
Doctors Without Borders emphasized that “Many residents have fled their homes for safer areas. Others have stayed but are unable to access their farms or places of work due to the worsening insecurity.”
The organization expects admissions to continue rising this year as the lean season, the period between harvests when food stocks run low has recently begun in Nigeria. Bed occupancy is already at 100 per cent in several MSF treatment centres.
“The numbers of malnourished children that we’re receiving in our facilities are a strong indicator that the further we get into the lean season, the more cases we’ll receive,” says MSF medical coordinator Htet Aung Kyi.
People in need of medical care face challenges reaching health centres and hospitals due to the risks associated with travelling on unsafe roads.
Despite the escalating crisis, northwest Nigeria lacks the attention and support required to establish a life-saving response. This response should include preventive measures such as food distribution and improvements to food security, as well as the early detection of malnutrition cases and timely treatment.
MSF urges all aid organizations working in the country to scale up their humanitarian response and calls on the Nigerian government and local health authorities to take immediate action to prevent a catastrophic loss of life in the months ahead, emphasized the statement.
MSF teams highlight that children who recover from malnutrition and are discharged home often need to be readmitted later as their families struggle to find enough food to keep them healthy. This keeps children trapped in a spiral of malnutrition from which it is difficult to escape.
According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 78 per cent of people in northwest Nigeria live below the poverty line. Healthcare is often unaffordable or difficult to access, and many children have never been vaccinated against common childhood diseases.
The region receives a very limited amount of international aid. All these factors have contributed to the growing numbers of malnourished children in urgent need of treatment.
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