Flooding: MSF raises alarm over increasing malnutrition cases in Northern Nigeria

By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

Following the devastating flood in some parts of the North, especially Borno and other Northeastern states of Nigeria, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has observed increased in number of malnourished children across Healthcare Centers where its officials are rendering services.

The MSF lamented that despite been in the harvest season across the Sub-region, the number of malnourished patients being admitted in hospitals is increasing.

As contained in a Press Statement signed and made available to newsmen by Dr Christos Christou, MSF International President, this year, the number of malnourished patients is not decreasing at a time when the peak is over.

“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”, the MSF said.

It noted that, “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”.

The MSF International President explained that presently, many organisations which were providing support in Maiduguri and other parts of the north of Nigeria have had to reduce their budgets or even stop their operations.

He said for the past few years, MSF has seen a significant increase in the number of admissions for malnutrition, adding that the numbers in 2022 and 2023 were already critically high.

“But between January to August this year, we have seen a fifty-one per cent increase in admissions of children with severe malnutrition, compared to the same period last year”, MSF International President pointed out.

He said, over the first eight months of this year, MSF has treated 52,725 children with severe malnutrition, a life-threatening condition, across the whole of northern Nigeria.

He added that, asides that, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles which is one of the leading causes of death of children are recurrent in Nigeria.

“Between January – August this year alone, we had already treated over 12,500 cases of measles. That’s nearly double the same period last year”, MSF said.

It noted that outbreaks of infectious diseases significantly increase mortality risks for children under the age of five, while unvaccinated children in this age group are particularly vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, diseases which elevate the risk of acute malnutrition.