One in Four Children in the Sahel region of Chad Suffer Malnutrition
24 August 2010, Sahel Region - A nutrition survey carried out by humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger | ACF International in Western Chad reveals that one in four children under five years old suffer from malnutrition. In response, ACF International has scaled up its activities to treat thousands of malnourished children with the condition in the region. The organisation also highlights the urgent need for long-term preventative measures to strengthen local health systems.
New nutrition surveys carried out by Action Against Hunger in the Sahel region of Chad in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and the WFP (World Food Programme) and funded by DFID (UK Department for International Development) and ECHO (the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department) reveal the following preliminary results[1]:
In Mao: 21% of children under five years old are malnourished, a rate which far exceeds the emergency threshold of 15% designated by the World Health Organisation. 4.7% of these children suffer from severe acute malnutrition. The daily mortality rate in the area is 1.06 per 10,000 children.
In Nokou: 27.2% of children under the age of five years old suffer from acute malnutrition. 6.4% of these children suffer from malnutrition in its severest form. The daily mortality rate for the area is 0.8% per 10,000 children.
In Bahr El Ghazal: 28.1% of children under five years are malnourished, of which a staggering 10.4% suffer from severe acute malnutrition. The daily mortality rate in the area is 3.9 per 10,000, which nearly touches the WHO's emergency threshold of 4%.
Chad's Sahelian region is frequently experiencing malnutrition rates of endemic proportions, with rates regularly exceeding 20% in the lean season. This year however has been particularly harsh. For two consecutive years the population has been severely affected by a shortage of rainfall which has thrown 64% of households in the area into food insecurity.
Faced with a crisis that is both structural and cyclical, the solution must include emergency responses without jeopardising long-term development activities. Action Against Hunger is working with the Chadian Ministry of Health to extend its treatment programmes to an additional 10 health centres, which brings the number of facilities supported by Action Against Hunger to 43. This expansion of the organisation's activities should significantly increase the accessibility as well as the quality of care for malnourished children.
Action Against Hunger has also participated in the drafting of new nutrition policy guidelines by the Ministry of Health in Chad and hopes to quickly see them come into effect. The implementation of these guidelines would mean that more children would be screened and hence benefit from nutrition treatment through nutrition programmes. This would contribute to a decrease in infant mortality.
Nevertheless, these new guidelines will further deepen existing problems with the health care system caused by a lack of funding, human resources and medication supply, as they have to provide treatment to a greater number of children.
As a result, Action Against Hunger emphasises the need for investment in treatment as well as preventive measures to address malnutrition. The organisation calls on all actors to reinforce their efforts and coordination in response to the current crisis and to support activities aimed at strengthening the health system.
[1] Results might be slightly adjusted in final report of the survey expected by mid September.
Source: Web Relief
