MSF in a statement said the cases are exceeding last year‘s figures by over 100 percent in some locations, describing it as an alarming indication of a premature peak of the lean season and the increase in acute malnutrition that accompanies it, typically anticipated in July.
MSF’s country representative in Nigeria, Dr Simba Tirima, said “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. Everyone needs to step in to save lives and allow the children of northern Nigeria to grow free from malnutrition and its disastrous long-term, if not fatal, consequences.”
MSF’s medical team in Maiduguri said they admitted 1250 severely malnourished children with complications to the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre, doubling the figure for April 2023.
