Health
MSF caution against surge in malnutrition cases in Northern Nigeria
By Francesca Hangeior.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has cautioned against a devastating surge in severe malnutrition cases among children in northern Nigeria.
The MSF while lamenting that the development has ignited a health crisis stressed the need to guide against an early peak in the lean season.
Dr. Simba Tirima, MSF’s Country Representative in Nigeria, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday during the presentation of the international organization’s 2023 Activity Report and the essential medical data for the first quarter of 2024.
The report revealed an alarming 100% increase in admissions in some locations, surpassing last year’s figures.
In April 2024, MSF’s medical team in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, admitted 1,250 severely malnourished children with complications to their inpatient therapeutic feeding center, doubling the figure from April 2023.
According to the report, the treatment facility was forced to urgently scale up its capacity, accommodating 350 patients by the end of May, far exceeding the 200 beds initially designated for the peak malnutrition season in July and August.
Similarly, MSF-operated facilities in Bauchi state’s Kafin Madaki hospital and Zamfara state’s Shinkafi and Zurmi have recorded significant increases in admissions of severely malnourished children.
In Kebbi state, the therapeutic feeding center documented a rise of over 20% in inpatient admissions from March to April.
MSF inpatient facilities in major cities like Kano and Sokoto are also reporting alarming surges of 75% and 100%, respectively.
In his remarks, Dr. Tirima stated that despite the alarming situation, the overall humanitarian response remains inadequate.
He said, “We are alarmed by the reduction in aid at these critical times. Reducing nutritional support to only severely malnourished children is akin to waiting for a child to become gravely ill before providing care.
“We’ve been warning about the worsening malnutrition crisis for the last two years. 2022 and 2023 were already critical, but an even grimmer picture is unfolding in 2024. We can’t keep repeating these catastrophic scenarios year after year. What will it take to make everyone take notice and act?
“We are resorting to treating patients on mattresses on the floor because our facilities are full. Children are dying. If immediate action is not taken, more lives hang in the balance. Everyone needs to step in to save lives and allow the children of northern Nigeria to grow free from malnutrition and its disastrous long-term, if not fatal, consequences.”
Meanwhile, he noted that other non-profit organizations active in the north are also overwhelmed.
Recall that the United Nations and Federal Government issued an urgent appeal in May for $306.4 million to address the pressing nutritional needs in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
However, Dr. Tirima argued that this amount will be insufficient, neglecting other parts of northern Nigeria where needs also outweigh the current capacity of organizations to respond adequately.
Health
Nigerian man becomes fourth person worldwide to get cured of HIV
By Francesca Hangeior.
A Nigerian man, Salisu Ahmed, has opened up on how he lived with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus for 31 years.
In a recent interview with reality star, Doyin David, Ahmed disclosed that he contracted the virus after his first extramarital affair.
The 66-year-old shared the challenges he faced, including the stigma of being denied access to shared facilities, losing his teaching job, and being abandoned by his wife and children.
“I am Salisu Ahmed, I have been living with this virus for 31 years. The first experiment of going outside my matrimonial home is how it happened. It has been proven that about 85 to 90 per cent of people living with HIV contracted this thing through sexual intercourse.
“I was denied the use of the bathroom of the compound, I was not allowed to access the toilet, I was formerly a teacher so I was asked honourably to stop coming to the school.
“She packed everything including the children at home, they left me,” he stated.
He was cured of HIV following a stem cell transplant.
According to a statement from the City of Hope Medical Center in the US, where the procedure was performed, the man entered remission after discontinuing antiretroviral therapy.
The centre noted that the patient became the fourth person in the world, and the oldest, to achieve long-term remission from HIV after receiving stem cells from a donor with a rare genetic mutation.
Health
READ about indicators that you maybe having liver related problems
The liver is an organ that sits just under the rib cage on the right side of the abdomen.
It can weigh up to 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms).
The liver is needed to help digest food, rid the body of waste products and make substances, called clotting factors, that keep the blood flowing well, among other tasks.
If there are symptoms of liver disease, they may include:
*Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, called jaundice. …
*Belly pain and swelling.
*Swelling in the legs and ankles.
*Itchy skin.
*Dark urine.
*Pale stool.
*Constant tiredness.
*Nausea or vomiting.
If you’re experiencing these symptoms please see your doctor.
Health
Benue records 20 suspected cases of Mpox, four confirmed
Benue state government said it has recorded 20 suspected cases of Mpox with four of the cases confirmed.
The State Epidemiologist, Dr Asema Msuega, who disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Makurdi, said three of the cases have been treated and discharged while the fourth case was just confirmed last week Friday, September 6, 2024.
He said “For this year up-to-date, we have 20 suspected cases of Mpox and four confirmed cases in Benue State.
“Initially, we have three confirmed cases that were treated and discharged from isolation center, the fourth case was just confirmed last week Friday from the reference laboratory.”
According to him, the fourth patient who is still in isolation is receiving treatment and responding well.
He said the confirmed cases are from two local government areas of the state including Makurdi and Gwer West adding “But for the suspected cases, they cut across five local government areas of the state; Ushongo, Kastina-Ala, Gboko, Makurdi and Gwer West.
“The most recent is from Gwer East which sample we have sent to the laboratory and awaiting result before the end of this week.”
Msuega who stated that many of the suspected cases have also come out of isolation, explained that “it’s not every case that we take to hospital for isolation, we advised some to self isolate at home just like we were doing during the outbreak of COVID-19.”
He said the patients are being treated at the isolation center of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) the government is carrying out massive awareness campaigns to educate people about the disease and to imbibe basic prevention and control measures including washing of hands, avoiding unnecessary contacts with people, especially suspected person.
While harping on early detection and reporting, Msuega urged the Benue public to report suspected cases to appropriate authorities especially the nearest health centres, be it primary, secondary or tertiary health centres.
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