With 15,000 visits a month and some 750 severely malnourished children being cared for, the Maiduguri centre is one of two malnutrition treatment centres in the Borno State capital
picture by Nneka Egbuna
In February 2021, our community volunteers, who volunteer within the community we serve, during a house-to-house monitoring exercise to identify the possible presence of malnourished children in the Magumeri area, found Bukar (not his real name), a 5-month-old child living with his grandmother in a small village. Bukar was severely malnourished: without his mother’s milk he was at risk of dying.
“His mother passed away during childbirth and his father was killed four months ago. I can no longer breastfeed and have nothing to support me and my grandson, so I fed him with milk from my neighbour’s goats” Bukar’s grandmother says. The effects on the child were devastating, his growth suffered and Bukar became at risk, very vulnerable and exposed to disease. Anguished and without economic resources, the grandmother resorted to using traditional herbs, which made the child’s condition even worse. Like many other displaced women and families in north-eastern Nigeria, Bukar’s grandmother depends solely on humanitarian aid for food and clothes for her and her child.
On the advice of our community volunteers, the grandmother agreed to admit her grandson to the stabilisation centre of the State Hospital in Maiduguri, supported by INTERSOS, where the child would receive adequate nutritional and medical care to survive and grow strong. Bukar was fed with therapeutic milk specifically for malnourished children, and given antibiotics, anti-malarials and de-worming drugs. After being hospitalized for 34 days in the centre, his condition began to improve.
The grandmother stayed with him throughout his hospitalisation, waiting for him to recover. During this time, she also received medical care and psychological support. Once Bukar was discharged, he started taking milk to supplement the therapeutic one, until he was finally weaned, at seven months. The grandmother, knowing that her grandson was finally out of danger, full of happiness said: “The love and care that Bukar has received is the true meaning of humanity”.
“Cases like this,” says Dr Rabiu, the centre’s medical coordinator, “of orphan children being raised by other relatives, have been occurring with increasing frequency since the clashes intensified. The centre is now prepared to treat orphaned children suffering from severe malnutrition”.
Insecurity has characterised North-East Nigeria for years
Insecurity has characterised North-East Nigeria for the past 12 years, and has caused a humanitarian crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, with the loss of thousands of lives, millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and alarming levels of hunger. According to Cadre Harmonisé data from March 2021, more than 3 million people in these 3 states are food insecure, and this is expected to increase to 4.4 million during the summer season. Lack of food, water, access to hygiene and medical care has led to many cases of acute and severe malnutrition, with more than 1 million children between 6 months and 5 years old affected in 2021 alone.
The stabilisation centre, established in December 2020 at the State Hospital in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, supported by INTERSOS in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF, is one of two stabilisation centres in Maiduguri where children are saved from dying of malnutrition. The centre visits approximately 15,000 children from 10 hard-to-reach Local Government Areas (LGAs) on a monthly basis. Among the 15,000 screened per month, an approximate number of about 750 severely malnourished children are directly taken care of by INTERSOS each month. Of these, 58 are referred to us by others in the area. The centre also has a referral section for children aged 8-10. We are able to reach so many children thanks to the mothers who take part in the care groups and the community volunteers.
One of the mothers of the 750 severely malnourished children is Zainab. A 20-year-old woman from Borno State who lost her father and brothers during the crises. “My daughter was seriously ill when I brought her here. I didn’t even know if she would have made it. She is now fine and eating well. I will do my best to make sure she stays healthy,” she said. The monitoring systems, in collaboration with UNICEF and other nutrition experts, ensure that mothers continue to care for the children after they are discharged.