KANO (Sundiata Post) – The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has called on governments of five states in the Northern part of the country to declare a state of emergency in their health sectors.
The NRCS said the call became necessary to address the growing threat of malnutrition affecting vulnerable communities in Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.
The President of NRCS, Oluyemi Adetayo, at a workshop on Tuesday in Kano, said the state of emergency would tackle what he described as the “silent crisis” of malnutrition.
Adetayo, however, said the society would provide targeted nutritional support to children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers in the concerned states.
According to him, the appeal is aimed at implementing specific interventions to address the alarming rise in malnutrition, particularly in communities affected by food insecurity, conflict and climate-related challenges.
“We are launching this appeal because malnutrition is gaining ground, people are unable to meet basic nutritional needs.
“When we visited some public hospitals, we realise there was a surge in illnesses linked to poor nutrition, with serious implications for physical and cognitive development in children.
“At times, due to lack of essential nutrients in some children, they tend to have poor character formation, that alone makes it an emergency.
Earlier, the Acting Director of Healthcare at NRCS, Dr Aminu Abdullahi, said that malnutrition remained one of the most under reported health issues in the country.
According to Abdullahi, there are thousands of severely malnourished individuals, especially children.
“NRCS operates as a voluntary organisation and auxiliary to the government, with a focus on community participation and mobilisation.
“Increasing cases of malnutrition are often linked to other health challenges, such as diarrhoea, malaria and broader impacts of insecurity,” he said.
The acting director added that NRCS engaged communities through awareness campaigns, nutritional screenings, and data collection to identify malnourished individuals.
“In the North-East and North-West regions alone, about 5.4 million children are malnourished out of which 1.8 million are severely malnourished.
“Our aim is to send response across nine states of Adamawa, Borno, Benue, Bauchi, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Yobe and Zamfara.
“The NRCS has mothers’ clubs in communities, who have been trained to identify malnourished children, promote use of locally available food resources, and refer severe cases to hospitals.
“They are also trained to follow up with discharged patients to ensure recovery and prevent relapse,” Abdullahi said.
He identified insecurity, displacement, poor access to farmland, unsafe water sources, and the prevalence of malaria as complicating the malnutrition crisis.(NAN)
