Northern Nigeria sees 51% rise in severe malnutrition, consequence of callous leadership
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
UP to 52,725 children across the Northern states were treated for severe malnutrition between January and August 2024 (M8 2024) by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the organisation has disclosed.
MSF International President Christos Christou announced the figure at the weekend in Abuja when he briefed reporters on his visit to Nigeria, a country where callous leaders pride themselves on rigging elections to get power only to steal the treasury dry and please themselves and pay little or no attention to the needs of the populace.
Christou clarified that MSF has seen a significant increase in the number of admissions for malnutrition for five years running
The numbers in 2022 and 2023 were already critically high, he said, adding that in M8 2024 MSF saw a 51 per cent hike in admissions of children with severe malnutrition, compared with M8 2023.
His words: “On top of this, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles are recurrent in Nigeria, and one of the leading causes of death amongst children.
“Between January and August this year alone, we had already treated over 12,500 cases of measles. That’s nearly double the same period last year.
“Outbreaks of infectious diseases significantly increase mortality risks for children under the age of five. Unvaccinated children in this age group are particularly vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases; diseases which elevate the risk of acute malnutrition.”
Christou disclosed that he saw why the massive flooding in Maiduguri gained global attention with a shocking scale that affected millions of people.
Maiduguri is not the only place in Nigeria affected by flooding, he stressed, noting that residents of Northern Nigeria as a whole have been through a lot, including overwhelming levels of malnutrition, frequent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, a lack of medical facilities and medical personnel.
“All of this has been compounded by continuous insecurity,” he lamented.
“People now have to seek temporary shelter in displacement camps once again, rebuild their homes once again, and try to figure out what’s left of their farmlands. Because this flooding happened at the end of the lean season, it has deprived farmers of even the illusory hope to harvest.”
He said he visited hospitals and clinics in Maiduguri where MSF worked, stressing that MSF supports the local healthcare system in tackling malaria and other diseases, as well as in providing access to maternity services.
MSF recently launched a cholera treatment centre after an outbreak was officially declared, he added.
“All this has happened in the background of a catastrophic malnutrition crisis. One of my colleagues, a Nigerian doctor who has been working with MSF for more than eight years, told me that this year is very different.
“Every year, he said, during this season, we see terrible numbers of malnourished children coming to the hospital in severe condition. But this year, at a time when the peak is supposed to be over, the number of patients admitted to the hospital is not going down. Worse, the condition in which they arrive is even more severe than usual.
“Very often people don’t have access even to basic medical care where they live, and do not have enough money or available transport. As a result, they reach to us too late.”
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