BY ABDULLAHI ISAH, MAIDUGURI
The Borno State Government has denied reports in some national dailies that 450 children between the ages of one to five living at the 28 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the state died as a result of malnutrition in 2015.
It would be recalled that the Executive Director of the Borno Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Sule Mele, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Sunday was misquoted as saying that about “450 children died from malnutrition in 28 IDP camps in the state in 2015”.
The State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Haruna Mshelia at a press briefing which took place in his Office on Tuesday, has, however, said that contrary to the reports, statistics show that, a total of 54,000 children under the ages of 5 and below were recorded in all the resettlement camps, out of which 98 children (1.5%) died of severe cases of malnutrition last year.
He however admitted that from December to January 2015, a total average of 450 deaths were recorded across the camps as a result of common causes, such as malaria, Diarrhea, Pneumonia, Measles and of course malnutrition.
Dr. Mshelia pointed out that all children under five years living at IDP camps were screened every 2-3 months for evidence of malnutrition, meaning a child can be screened up to 4 times in a year.
He disclosed that in 2015, over 200,000 children were screened, out of which, 6,444 were found to be severely malnourished and therefore treated through Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) and Infant & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) programmes of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA), and as well supported by Nutrition Programme Support Partners like UNICEF, Save the Children (SC), Action Against Hunger (AAH) among others.
He however noted that the National Demographic and Health Survey Data (NDHS- 2013) reveals that even the North East that had suffered much due to insurgency, has an under-five mortality rate of 160 deaths per 1,000, second only to the North West with 185 deaths per 1,000 population.
He then commended all the Health Care Partners, especially Medicine SAN Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) French Section for not only providing care for malnourished children in the state, but also for renovating and equipping most structures and facilities at Umaru Shehu General Hospital in Bulumkutu, State Specialist Hospital and General Mamman Shuwa Memorial Hospital (Nursing Home), all in Maiduguri Metropolis.
