Reference :
V-P-NG-E-01061
Date :
26/11/2020
Caption :
Borno State, Biu General Hospital. Mothers are streaming into the stabilization centre, supported by the ICRC, which is one of the few places in the state where malnourished children can be treated. The number of severely malnourished children treated here more than doubled in the past three months compared to the rest of the year. Medical staff fear the numbers will continue to rise.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC website, photo gallery, 04.12.2020
While the COVID-19 pandemic has hogged all the attention, the rise in malnourished children has the medical staff of Biu General Hospital worried that more children may die if they don't receive treatment.
The hospital's stabilization centre, where severely malnourished children under five years of age are admitted and put on life-saving treatment, has seen a steady rise in numbers. Close to 50% of the cases this year were admitted over the last three months. The first five years are critical to a child's development. Unfortunately, 35 children succumbed to malnutrition in the facility between January and October this year 2020.
"Screening for malnutrition was being done in the remote villages and cases would be referred to the hospital. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to this in April as we only resumed screening in November. But we are already seeing more and more patients coming in" said Thomas Ndambu, a nutritionist with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Resolution :
3000x2000
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
