MSF Treats 30,000 Malnourished Children in Katsina

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) yesterday said it has treated 30,000 malnourished children between January and June this year in Katsina State.

The MSF Health Promotion Manager, Elsie Siboe, who disclosed this in Katsina at an event to mark the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week, said the children were treated in eight health facilities in the state.

With the theme: ‘Enabling breastfeeding, making a difference for working parents, the event was organised by the Katsina State Government in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Siboe explained that the data of malnutrition in the state was quite alarming and that there was an urgent need for the government to intervene in order to eradicate the scourge.

She said: “The data of malnutrition in Katsina is quite alarming because from January to June, we were able to treat 30,000 children within the eight health facilities for outpatients.

“And within our facilities, we are able to treat 6,000 children in the ITFCs on a regular basis. We have a bed capacity of 340 currently and we are expecting that it might increase.”

To tackle the spate of malnutrition in the state, Siboe said the organisation was planning to increase the bed capacity of their health facilities from 340 to 420 soon.

She added that the MSF was providing nutritional services to malnourished children in 10 health facilities in Katsina, Mashi, and Jibia Local Government Areas of the state.