Get Guardian on Google[vvideo code=”QWRBLKQE” autoplay=”yes”]
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said 88,000 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) are at risk of death in the Northeast region, due to lack of treatment.
About a million children, aged between six and 59 months in the insurgency affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe are also acutely malnourished.
According to the UNICEF Chief Field Officer (CFO) in Borno State, Geoffrey Ijumba, who dropped the hint, yesterday, in Maiduguri at the close of a five-day Nutrition in Emergency Training workshop, one in every five of 440,000 children with SAM is at risk of death, if their malnutrition remains untreated.
[ad]
He further disclosed that 230,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are also acutely malnourished, adding, “over 1.5 million people lack access to safe water in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
While saying this has caused thousands of vulnerable children in the insurgency affected states to become acutely malnourished, the CFO said: “This is after repeated bouts of diarrhoeal diseases, including the outbreaks of cholera that recently claimed 65 lives of people.”
Ijumba urged the 32 participants to complement the state’s efforts and muster resources at their disposal in favour of children, since according to him, well-nourished children are better able to grow and learn by contributing to their communities.
[ad unit=2]
