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Over 650 children have died from severe acute malnutrition in Katsina State this year, says international charity organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The organisation, which has been operating in Katsina since 2021, said it recorded an alarming rise in the number of malnourished children brought to its treatment centres in increasingly critical condition.
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Between January and June 2025, MSF said it treated nearly 70,000 malnourished children in the state, including almost 10,000 who required hospitalisation.
“This year alone, 652 children have already died in our facilities because they couldn’t get timely access to care,” said Ahmed Aldikhari, MSF’s country representative in Nigeria, in a press release issued on Friday.
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The organisation said the crisis has been worsened by deep cuts to international aid, with major donors, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, reducing funding.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that earlier this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it would suspend emergency food and nutrition aid to 1.3 million people in Northeast Nigeria from the end of July, citing “critical funding shortfalls.”
The organisation said the number of children suffering from nutritional oedema — the most severe and life-threatening form of malnutrition in Katsina State — has surged by more than 200 per cent compared with the same period last year.
However, MSF noted that the impact of food insecurity is not limited to children. A screening conducted this month in MSF-run malnutrition centres found that more than half of 750 mothers accompanying young patients were themselves acutely malnourished, with 13 per cent classified as severely malnourished.
“The year 2024 marked a turning point in northern Nigeria’s nutritional crisis, but the true scale of the crisis this year exceeds all predictions,” Mr Aldikhari said. “An increasing number of people can no longer afford to buy food, even though food is available in the markets.”
A recent food security survey in Kaita, Katsina State, revealed that over 90 per cent of households had reduced daily meals even before the traditional lean season began this year.
In response to the deepening emergency, MSF said it has expanded its support, opening a new outpatient feeding centre in Mashi and an additional inpatient treatment unit in Turai, bringing the total capacity in Katsina State to around 900 beds.
MSF health workers warn that the crisis is compounded by disease outbreaks, low vaccine coverage, limited access to healthcare and widespread insecurity in northern Nigeria.
“The most urgent way to reduce the risk of immediate death from malnutrition is to ensure families have access to food,” said Emmanuel Berbain, MSF’s nutrition referent. “This can be achieved through large-scale food distributions or nutritional supplements — or by providing cash support where feasible.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima recently described the situation as a national emergency, noting that malnutrition is depriving almost 40 per cent of Nigerian children under five of their full physical and cognitive potential.
MSF said it treated over 300,000 malnourished children across seven northern states in 2024 — a 25 per cent increase on the previous year. However, in just the first half of 2025, the organisation has already treated almost 100,000 children in the Northwest alone, where it operates in Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states.
In Kebbi, the MSF said it has recorded a 74.1 per cent increase in the admission of malnourished children into its facilities from January to June 2025.
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Hamza Bello, a senior medical doctor working with the global NGO, disclosed this on Thursday while interacting with journalists at the Maiyama Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centre (ITFC), Maiyama Local Government Area of Kebbi.
Mr Bello added that from January to May this year, 24,784 children were admitted in Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centers (ITFCs), while 107,461 were treated in Outpatient Therapeutic Programmes (OTPs), indicating 13 per cent increase compared to 2024.
Humanitarian agencies are appealing for urgent, coordinated action and renewed funding as essentials to prevent even more deaths in the months ahead.
