The Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, also known as Doctors without Borders, has raised alarm of the rise in cases of malnutrition in Kano state.
The Kano MSF project medical referent, Dr Anthony Mbarga disclosed this while speaking to newsmen at its Unguwa Uku facility in Kano on Friday.
According Mbarga, in the first quarter of 2024, a total of 3,401 malnourished patients were admitted at the facility, but in same period in 2025 5,076 patients are already in admission, representing about 67% increase.
He also explained that during the first quarter of 2024 MSF admitted 352 patients at the In-patient Therapeutic Feeding Centres, ITFC.
At the same period, according to him, 732 were admitted , about 48% increase.
Dr Mbarga said the project supported malnourished children across the state with the aim of reducing morbidity and mortality among children aged between 4 and 6.
“In Kano, we have three Ambulatory Therapeutic Feeding Centres (ATFC) for outpatients and two In-patient Therapeutic Feeding Centres (ITFC). The ATFC caters for malnourished children without complications while the ITFC handles more severe cases,” he explained.
Mbarga also said there was a significant increase in malnutrition cases, leading to the establishment of another ITFC at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.
The project medical referent also said that before the peak period of the disease, they had 55 beds, but they now have 178 beds to handle the cases.
“We have recorded 5% mortality in ITFC for the first quarter.In the ATFC, the cure rate is 89% while mortality is 0%. The number of blood transfusion done so far (this year) is 208,” he added
