Malawian children face acute malnutrition
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has observed an increasing trend of severe acute malnutrition in children with the country registering an 18 percent increase in hospital admissions between January and May 2024 due to the problem.
This is contained in a statement issued on Sunday in which Unicef says almost 300 000 children are threatened by severe acute malnutrition in six drought-affected countries in southern Africa.
It says the severe drought that has impacted large swathes of southern Africa, including Malawi, is threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in the six worst-affected countries.
It reads: “In Malawi, where an estimated 5.7 million people are expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity [IPC AFI phase 3 or above] between October 2024 and March 2025, an increasing trend of severe acute malnutrition in children has already been observed with an 18 per cent increase in admissions recorded between January and May 2024.”
Unicef regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa Etleva Kadilli is quoted in the statement, saying the humanitarian needs children are facing due to El Niño are extremely concerning.
She said: “Increasing food insecurity and malnutrition, challenges in accessing safe water and sanitation, as well as risks to disease outbreaks such as cholera are a serious threat.”
These shocks, she said, dramatically lower the quantity, diversity, and quality of available food, negatively affecting the care of children disrupting access to clean and safe water, exposing children to life-threatening childhood diseases, including diarrhoea.
Officials from the Ministry of Health could not be reached for comment.
But in April this year, the World Health Organisation gave Malawi 48 sets of paediatric severe acute malnutrition kits worth K60.7 million to help in combating the condition.
