The Federal Government has described the malnutrition crisis in Borno as far worse than what is being reported in the media.Consequently, a rapid response team has been constituted by the Federal Government, the State Government and other relevant donor partners to tackle the situation.The representative of the Minister of Health Prof. Abdusallam Nasidi who is also the National Coordinator of Centre for Disease Control at a joint press conference with State Government, WHO and other donor partners also disclosed that not less than 750,000 IDPs require urgent intervention in the next 90 days.Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi hinted that at least five children will die every hour in the state, warning that the impact of such a condition on the health status of the population will turn out high.He said, “the situation here is worsening than what has been reported, so we needs to take urgent steps. We need to immediately reach out to 750,000 persons affected(children and adults as well as pregnant women ) people within the next three months with food and supplements and Health interventions.“This meeting recognizes that except this is done urgently, at least 5 children will die every hour and the impact on the health status of the populationwill be high,” Prof. Nasidi warned.He added that the situation will turnout to be worse with continued military operations as some people are still trapped in certain communities,stressing what is reported in the media is worse that what they saw on the ground. “It was agreed that the figures reported by the emergency team on group could be representing just a tip of iceberg. Thus to prevent further disaster and mitigate the impact of dire situation a long term multi-sectoral collaboration, integrated approach andcoordinated response is required.” Prof. Adulsalami noted.
The Nation
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