From Umar Dankano, Yola
International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, has expressed concerns over unabating malnutrition rates rise in the North East states and lake Chad region.
The Organization’s public relations official, Aliyu Dawobe made public the alarm via a press release projecting that, the malnutrition is caused by armed conflicts and climate change affecting food production in the lake Chad region.
According to the release, records of the admissions of severely malnourished children in health facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in northeast Nigeria have increased by 24% between the third quarters of 2023 and 2024.
“The 24 % increase indicates both severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with and without medical complications treated in ICRC-supported facilities. That is from 6,824 cases in Q3 of 2023 to 8,470 cases in Q3 of 2024.
“The number of children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications treated in ICRC-supported facilities has increased from 1,212 in the third quarter of 2023 to 1,691 in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 39.5 per cent”.ICRC declared
It explained further that, the increase is part of a trend affecting the entire Lake Chad Basin region, where an estimated 6.1 million people will not have enough to eat in the coming months due in part to both conflict and climate, the highest figure in four years.
