Nigeria: Kaduna recorded 12,246 new cases of malnutrition in 5 months

Nigeria's Kaduna State has recorded 12,246 new cases of malnutrition among children under five years, between January and May, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

A nutrition data obtained by NAN from the state on Thursday indicated that a total of 5,284 malnourished children were being treated from the beginning of the year.

They were being treated in various Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) sites in the state, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners.

The document showed that 1,909 new cases were recorded in January, 2,283 in February, 2,857 in March, 2,556 in April, and 2,641 in May. This indicated that the new cases recorded during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown in the state amounted to 5,197.

However, a total of 8,869 children had been cured, while 65 deaths, 178 non-recovery, and 1,469 defaulters were recorded within the period.

Commenting on the development, Isah Ibrahim, Nutrition Advocacy Advisor, Save the Children International, blamed the increasing rate of malnutrition in the state on poor budget performance.

Ibrahim further told NAN that the COVID-19 pandemic had further created a lot of gaps in the performance of nutrition interventions in the state.

He commended the state government for providing uninterrupted nutrition and health services throughout the lockdown period and for supporting vulnerable families with food to cushion the effect of the lockdown.

"Nonetheless, I am particularly not happy with the performance of nutrition funding in the state. The year is half gone and there is no single release and cash backing of funds for nutrition intervention at the state level, "said Ibrahim.

"At the local level, very few Local Government Areas were able to make one or two cash-backing of funds for nutrition activities. This is even when over N1.1 billion have been budgeted by the state and local governments for nutrition line Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to carry out sensitive and specific nutrition interventions, "he added.