Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has reported a dramatic increase in admissions of severely malnourished children with life-threatening complications at its inpatient facilities in northern Nigeria.
Admissions have exceeded last year’s figures by over 100% in some locations, signaling a premature peak of the lean season and a surge in acute malnutrition typically expected in July.
In a press statement released on Tuesday, MSF highlighted the dire situation. “We are resorting to treating patients on mattresses on the floor because our facilities are full.
Children are dying. If immediate action is not taken, more lives hang in the balance,” said Dr. Simba Tirima, MSF’s Country Representative in Nigeria.
MSF urged Nigerian authorities, international organizations, and donors to take immediate action to diagnose and treat malnourished children and to engage in sustained, long-term initiatives to address the root causes of the crisis.
Dr. Tirima emphasized the worsening situation: “We’ve been warning about the worsening malnutrition crisis for the last two years.
2022 and 2023 were already critical, but an even grimmer picture is unfolding in 2024. We can’t keep repeating these catastrophic scenarios year after year.”
In April 2024, MSF’s medical team in Maiduguri admitted 1,250 severely malnourished children with complications, doubling the number from April 2023.
By the end of May, the inpatient therapeutic feeding center was accommodating 350 patients, far exceeding its initial capacity of 200 beds for the peak malnutrition season in July and August.
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In Bauchi State’s Kafin Madaki Hospital, admissions of severely malnourished children increased by 188% in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
In Zamfara State, the inpatient centers in Shinkafi and Zurmi saw up to a 30% increase in monthly admissions from March to April, while Talata Mafara’s facility reported a 20% increase.
Similarly, inpatient facilities in Kano and Sokoto reported surges of 75% and 100%, respectively. The therapeutic feeding center in Kebbi State also saw a rise of more than 20% in admissions from March to April 2024.
Despite the alarming situation, the overall humanitarian response remains inadequate, with other non-profit organizations in the North also overwhelmed. In May, the United Nations and Nigerian authorities issued an urgent appeal for $306.4 million to address the nutritional needs in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
However, this funding ignores other parts of northern Nigeria where needs are equally critical.
MSF noted that reductions in already limited funding have dangerously affected the provision of therapeutic and supplementary food, which were completely unavailable in Zamfara for the first four months of the year and are now only available in lower quantities.
“We are alarmed by the reduction in aid at these critical times,” said Dr. Tirima. “Reducing nutritional support to only severely malnourished children is akin to waiting for a child to become gravely ill before providing care.
We urge donors and authorities to increase support urgently for both curative and preventive approaches, ensuring that all malnourished children receive the care they desperately need.”
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