MSF says its teams in five of the seven northwestern states treated 171,465 malnourished children last year and admitted 32,104 to hospital for life-threatening malnutrition, a 14 per cent rise on the previous year - in 2022.
Hawa’u looks over her son as he receives treatment for malaria in MSF's paediatric war in Gummi. Zamfara state, Nigeria, October 2023.
Non-state actors in the region, locally called bandits, routinely ransack communities, loot and burn silos and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom, driving what the international aid group called a"neglected humanitarian emergency." "The lack of recognition of the crisis is having a severe impact on the health and humanitarian needs of the population, and delaying the response which is desperately needed.
"The high rate of admissions to inpatient facilities has been accompanied by alarming mortality rates, as was the case in one of our supported facilities in Zamfara state where it reached 23,1%. Sadly, many children are dying within 48 hours after arriving in critical conditions, too late to be saved due to the barriers in reaching healthcare. Overall, 854 children admitted to MSF facilities in the northwest died 24 to 48 hours after admission in 2023," the MSF said in the statement.