Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, is sounding the alarm over the continuing severe malnutrition crisis affecting children in northern Nigeria.
According to MSF, the number of children admitted to MSF treatment centers with severe malnutrition increased by 51% in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
This is contained in a statement from MSF International President Dr. Christos Cristo, who said that between January and August this year, MSF saw a 51% increase in the number of severely malnourished children hospitalized compared to the same period last year. It is said that he did.
Underscoring the devastating impact of the crisis, he said that MSF has seen a significant increase in the number of hospitalizations due to malnutrition in recent years.
“In the first eight months of this year, we have treated 52,725 children across northern Nigeria with severe, life-threatening malnutrition.”The numbers in 2022 and 2023 were already very high. This year is very different. Every year around this time of year, we see terrible numbers of malnourished children coming into hospitals in critical condition. Severely hospitalizations of malnourished children increased by 51 percent,” Crist said.Commenting on the recent floods in Maiduguri, Christos Cristo said it had further exacerbated the challenges faced by the affected communities.
“Many people lost their homes, livelihoods and access to essential goods. The floods also disrupted health services and hampered efforts to address the malnutrition crisis,” he said.
He said MSF had been providing essential medical care in the affected areas, including treatment for malaria, malnutrition and other diseases.
He lamented that the organization is under-resourced and struggling to meet the growing needs of the population.
He called on humanitarian organizations to step up life-saving care for malnourished children and increase vaccination rates to prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, to address the devastating crisis in northern Nigeria. He called for continued investment in basic health care and emergency response.
