By Abdullahi Maku
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, says it treated 283,777 children for malnutrition across seven northern Nigerian states in the first eight months of 2026.
The figures were disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday, by MSF Field Officer Abdulkareem Yakubu, who said 57,999 children received inpatient treatment, while 225,778 were treated through outpatient programmes.
MSF identified poverty, inflation, insecurity, displacement, disease outbreaks and extreme weather conditions as major factors contributing to the persistent nutritional crisis in northern Nigeria.
However, the organisation noted that improved security and better harvests in Katsina State in 2025 had helped reduce the severity of the nutritional crisis.
It quoted Jean Ishimwe, MSF’s Partnership Coordinator, as saying that improved security had enabled many displaced people to return to their communities and resume farming.
Ishimwe explained that many people displaced from Jibia and Batsari Local Government Areas by insecurity had previously settled in Katsina, Mashi and Mani.
He said their return to their communities had improved access to food, resulting in fewer cases at MSF-supported treatment centres.
According to him, MSF repeatedly raised concerns in 2025 about severe malnutrition observed in healthcare facilities across the region.
He said the advocacy helped drew greater attention to the crisis, while more humanitarian organisations began operating in the area in 2026.
Ishimwe added that the Katsina State Government had established additional outpatient and inpatient treatment centres for several months to expand access to nutrition services.
He said MSF supported the new centres by training healthcare workers and providing technical assistance, helping reduce hospital admissions ahead of the peak malnutrition season.
The partnership coordinator said the state government had committed N1 billion to combating malnutrition, doubling its previous allocation.
He said the funding was expected to support the procurement of ready-to-use therapeutic food, an essential product for treating children with acute malnutrition.
Ishimwe added that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had pledged to mobilise a matching amount through its Child Nutrition Fund.
He said fulfilling the commitments would strengthen the response to malnutrition and create opportunities to expand similar interventions across Katsina and other northern states.
In spite of the progress, Ishimwe said inadequate funding and limited access to ready-to-use therapeutic food remained major challenges in combating malnutrition.
He added that reductions in aid funding by the United States and several European countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, had worsened the situation.
According to UNICEF figures cited by MSF, fewer than half of children with severe acute malnutrition worldwide receive treatment, in spite of the availability of interventions that can prevent deaths and long-term developmental complications.
In Nigeria, the Nutrition Society of Nigeria had also raised concerns about the crisis, reporting that nearly two million children were affected by severe acute malnutrition, while only about two in every 10 received treatment.
MSF called for sustained funding, improved access to therapeutic food and stronger government and humanitarian interventions to ensure that more children receive timely treatment.(NAN)
Edited by Abiemwense Moru
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