MSF and partners care for half the severely malnourished children treated in Niger
The scale of the nutrition crisis in Niger is particularly worrying in 2010 say MSF teams. In addition to treating 77,000 children with severe malnutrition this year, MSF and its partners are implementing large-scale distributions of food supplements as a preventive approach.
Since July, we have distributed food supplements to over 143,000 young children to prevent them becoming malnourished. Quality preventative measures are crucial in dealing with the recurrent nutritional crisis in Niger.
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“With the overwhelming number of severely malnourished children in need of treatment, the medical facilities run by the Ministry of Health become overburdened. Those children are often in a critical health condition, which increases the risk of death. Even in the most optimistic scenario, mortality rates in nutritional programmes are still high, ranging from 3 to 4%”, said Patrick Barbier, MSF’s head of mission in Niger. “This is why preventing malnutrition is also crucial”.
The supplementary ready-to-use products, containing milk, minerals and vitamins, are adapted to the nutritional needs of young children. The plan has been worked out with the Government of Niger, the World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF and the distribution is being implemented in five districts in collaboration with Nigerien organisations.
“Prevention is about finding the best way of stopping children from becoming severely malnourished year after year, decreasing the medical, logistical and financial burdens that are created by the treatment of so many sick children”, said Dr. Susan Shepherd, Coordinator of MSF Nutritional working group.
The distribution of food supplements on a large scale this year represents a major positive change in the preventive response to the nutritional emergencies in Niger. However, the recurrent nature of the nutritional crisis in the country calls for these preventive strategies to be integrated into the fight against malnutrition on a more permanent basis.
MSF aims to work with its local and international partners to define the best product and the most effective long-term strategy to prevent malnutrition among young children in Niger.
MSF and its national partners FORSANI (Forum Santé Niger) and BEFEN/ALIMA (Bien-être de la Femme et de l’Enfant au Niger) support 59 community-based nutritional centres and nine intensive nutritional rehabilitation centres in Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder regions. Together, they have admitted more than 77,000 children with severe malnutrition out of the 170 000 who received care in the country since the beginning of the year. In these regions as well as in Agadez, MSF provides free medical care for young children in primary health care centres and paediatric hospitals.