By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
The Borno State Nutrition Officer, Alhaji Abdullahi Madi has disclosed that at least 3, 522 children died from malnutrition in the State between January 2017 and July 2021.
Alhaji Madi added that about 239 children also died as a result of malnutrition between January and July, 2021 alone
The nutritional officer, who revealed this during a three day media dialogue on child malnutrition reporting training held in Maiduguri, also noted that the pathetic situation was beginning to improve steadily but required all hands to be on deck to sustain the tempo.
On his part, The UNICEF Officer in Charge of Chief of Field Office Maiduguri, Mr Samuel Sesay, said the prolong years of Boko Haram insurgency which led to the destruction of communities and displacement of people, among other factors informed the devastating level of malnutrition in the North East region.
Mr. Sesay, however, raised alarm over the state of child malnutrition in the Northeast region, maintaining that, children under five years in the north east are under malnutrition threat.
While the UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Mr. Ifeanyi Maduanusi noted that the malnutrition situation would improve with additional funding from the stakeholders and other donors.
Statistics from UN data indicated that in 2017, 216, 639 children were admitted for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), 153,846 cured, while unfortunately, 731 children died of malnutrition complications.
In 2018, the figure of children that suffered SAM rose to 256,639; while 247, 491 were cured; 654 died; 13,599 defaulted in treatment, and 3,552 children couldn’t recover.
In 2019, 150, 422 suffered from SAM; 138, 241 cured; 1,877 couldn’t recover; 6,399 defaulted in treatment and unfortunately, 544 died.
In 2020, 140, 349 SAM cases were reported; 130,855 cured; 3,233 couldn’t recover; 5,922 defaulted in treatment and 1,354 children died.
In 2021, 85, 027 children suffered SAM; 67,393 cured; 1,664 defaulted in treatment; 574 couldn’t recover, while 239 children died of malnutrition.
Furthermore, the statistics shown jointly provided by the state government and UN agencies showed that between January 2017 to July 2021, 3, 522 children died of malnutrition in the state, 849, 148 children admitted for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) while 737, 826 were cured of malnutrition within the five-year period.
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