A Humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has raised the alarm over a surge in malnutrition in Bauchi State, revealing that 17,223 children were admitted for malnutrition in the first quarter of 2024.
This is as the humanitarian organisation raised concern over a significant rise in malnutrition cases in Nigeria, reporting a 40% average increase in admission, compared to the same period last year.
It urged immediate support to address the escalating crisis.
It further revealed that Bauchi, along with much of Northern Nigeria, is facing a malnutrition crisis.
MSF made the alarming revelation during a press cafe tagged “Doctors without Borders” in Bauchi State on Friday.
The 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” She stated
Also speaking, the acting head of the mission, Dr Thierry Boyom, revealed that the MSF is launching an integrated community care management plus (ICCM) in Ganjuwa Local Government Area to train identified personnel to diagnose and treat malnutrition at an early stage.
