A humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has raised the alarm over a significant rise in malnutrition cases in Nigeria, declaring a 40 per cent average increase in admissions.
It highlighted a critical situation with 17,223 malnourished children in Bauchi alone, in the first quarter of 2024.
This is as the humanitarian organisation urged immediate support to address the escalating crisis.
According to MSF teams , across Nigeria , malnutrition admissions have risen by an average of 40% compared to the same period last year.
It further revealed that Bauchi, along with much of northern Nigeria, is facing a malnutrition crisis.
It made the alarming revelation during a press conference tagged “Doctors without Borders” in Bauchi State.
MSF’s Project Coordinator for Bauchi, Rabi Adamou, expressed concern over the drastic rise in admissions, noting the strain on resources as the peak malnutrition season approaches.
She disclosed that In Bauchi, 5,787 children were admitted to the ITFC and 17,223 children to three local Ambulatory Therapeutic Feeding Centers (ATFCs), which support malnourished children before they need inpatient care.
According to her, MSF has scaled up its response in the area by increasing bed capacity at the Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Center (ITFC) in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of the state.
She added that between January and June 2024, the number of admissions increased by 127% for the ITFC and 123% for the ATFCs compared to the same period in 2023.
“We are only just entering the peak season for malnutrition, and our facilities are over capacity and having to expand”.
“We are very concerned by the catastrophic increase in malnutrition admissions we have seen in Bauchi in the first half of 2024. Although there may be many factors compounding this increase, the numbers we are seeing are incredibly high,” he stated.
To address the situation, Adamou revealed that “MSF has been supporting the local health system in Bauchi State since 2012 by responding to disease outbreaks such as cholera, diphtheria, and Lassa fever, providing medical care, training medical staff, and conducting health promotion activities.
“Since 2022, MSF has been addressing the high numbers of malnourished children, currently operating a 250-bed ITFC and an inpatient pediatric department (IPD) in Kafin Madaki General Hospital, along with ATFCs in Kafin Madaki, Kafin Liman, and Miya primary healthcare centers.”
“New community-level activities are planned, including Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM/iCCM+), which aims to expand the community approach to include malnutrition treatment.
“This will be piloted in eight villages in Miya starting mid-July. The ‘Parent MUAC’ (mid-upper arm circumference) activity will also be implemented to train parents and caregivers to detect early signs of malnutrition at home before it becomes severe.”
On her part, Nathalie Avril, Nutrition Advisor of the MSF said the organisation has been supporting the local health system in Bauchi State since 2012 by responding to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, and Lassa fever.
She said MSF has also assisted in the area of providing medical care, training medical staff, and conducting health promotion activities amongst the community.
According to her, since 2022, MSF is currently running a 250-bed capacity ITFC and an inpatient pediatric department (IPD) in Kafin Madaki General Hospital, adding that it has been responding to the huge number of children suffering from malnutrition.
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BSPHCDA), Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed commended the organisation for engaging in the fight against malnutrition in the state.
He observed that, apart from treating malnourished children, the MSF is also involved in training the communities and health workers to identify five aspects of their work.
“It’s not only malnutrition, there is pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. The communities are also involved, whenever a child is malnourished, whether it is mild or moderate, the situation should be managed, and they are doing it”, he said.
