Tag: MALNUTRITION

“Northern Nigeria’s newborn has 15% chance of dying before age 5” – Bill Gates

Aminu Imam
Bill Gates

American billionaire businessman, Bill Gates, has raised alarm about the high child mortality rate in Northern Nigeria. Gates stated that “a child born in northern Nigeria has a 15% chance of dying before the age of five”. He then urged governments to reverse global health funding cuts. Speaking during an interview before the Reuters Newsmaker Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers event in New York on Monday, Gates said the world was at a crossroads, with millions of children at risk of dying if funding drops too steeply.  “You can either be part…

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‘Malnutrition crisis in North claims 652 Under-5 children in 7 months’ – MSF

Aminu Imam
MSF on malnutrition

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a humanitarian health organisation, has raised the alarm that Northern Nigeria is currently facing an alarming malnutrition crisis, which has claimed the lives of 652 children within the first seven months of 2025 — a development that requires urgent mobilisation to tackle. MSF, in a statement issued to newsmen on Friday, lamented that, “Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our facilities since the beginning of 2025 due to a lack of timely access to care”. It stressed that, “It is a worrying sign…

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‘North hit by worsening malnutrition crisis’ – MSF

Aminu Imam
MSF on malnutrition

…652 children dead in Katsina Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has raised the alarm over a deepening malnutrition crisis in northern Nigeria, warning of a rising number of child deaths, particularly in Katsina State. In a statement issued yesterday, MSF’s Field Communication Officer, Abdulkareem Yakubu, disclosed that the organisation has witnessed a surge in cases of severe malnutrition and higher mortality rates at its therapeutic feeding centres across Katsina, where it has been active since 2021. “By the end of June 2025, nearly 70,000 malnourished…

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Hardship: Nigerian children face malnutrition, as food costs skyrocket

Aminu Imam
Hardship on children

Soaring food prices in Nigeria are forcing families to make difficult decisions, with severe consequences for nutrition and health. As food inflation reached a staggering 37.77% in September 2024, up from 30.64% the previous year, staple protein sources have become luxuries for many households. Items like a crate of eggs now cost around N6,000, while a kilogram of fish is N5,500 and beef ranges between N6,500 and N7,000. This makes providing balanced meals an uphill struggle for millions of Nigerian families. The impact is especially severe on childrens nutrition. Protein-rich…

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Nigeria loses $1.5bn annually to malnutrition – Minister

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian government is concerned about the economic impact of malnutrition, costing the country $1.5 billion a year in lost productivity and human capital development. Minister for Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, has said that loses $1.5bn of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year due to micronutrient deficiencies. According to a statement issued by the ministry on Wednesday, the Minister made this disclosure on Tuesday, while speaking at the 53rd Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, (NSN), in Abuja. Bagudu urged experts…

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UN warns of acute malnutrition in Nigeria, 14 other countries

Aminu Imam

The United Nations (UN) agencies have called for urgent action to protect the most vulnerable children in 15 countries, hardest hit by an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis. The call was made in a statement issued by five UN agencies. The UN had listed some countries that are hardest hit by the unprecedented food and nutrition crises. According to the statement, conflicts, climate shocks, the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 and rising costs of living are leaving increasing numbers of children acutely malnourished. It said the five UN agencies are: Food…

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Malnutrition: Kaduna to promote early initiation, exclusive breastfeeding Dep. Gov.

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

The Kaduna State Government said on Friday that it would scale up efforts to promote early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding of infants below six months. The Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, stated this in Kaduna at a news conference organised by nutrition stakeholders in the state to commemorate the 2021 World Breastfeeding Week. Some of the stakeholders are UNICEF, Alive and Thrive, Accelerating Nutrition Result in Nigeria, Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, National Orientation Agency and other government agencies. Balarabe…

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WFP says rising hunger in drought-stricken southern Madagascar forcing families to eat insects

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

Hunger is on the rise in southern Madagascar due to consecutive years of drought, affecting half the regions population or 1.5 million people, and forcing most families to eat insects, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported in Geneva, Switzerland. The figure is three times the number projected mid-year, with women and children comprising most of those experiencing crisis or emergency hunger conditions. The UN agency pointed out that Madagascar already has the worlds 10th highest rate of stunting, as almost half of all children under the age of five suffer…

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