More than 30 million children under the age of 5 are suffering from acute wasting or malnutrition due to conflict, climate shocks, the continuing impact of COVID-19 pandemic, and rising cost of living.
Children with this disease have weakened immune systems and are in higher risk of death from common childhood diseases.
Eight million children are severely wasted – the deadliest form of malnutrition – meaning they are 12 times more likely to die than children who are well fed.
Crisis can get worse
The Stunning issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR; The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
They call on the international community to accelerate progress on Global action plan on child waste to prevent the growing crisis from turning into a tragedy.
Qu Dongyu, the FAO The director general, warned that the situation is likely to worsen further this year.
“We must ensure the availability, affordability and accessibility of healthy diets for young children, girls, pregnant and lactating women. We need urgent action now to save lives and address the root causes of acute malnutrition, working together across all sectors,” he said.
Five priority areas
The Global Plan of Action to prevent, detect and treat acute childhood malnutrition in the countries hardest hit by the crisis by layer: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
It addresses the need for multidisciplinary approach and highlight priority actions through changes in maternal and child nutrition policy, targeting food, health, water and sanitation, and social protection systems.
With demand on the rise, United Nations agencies have drafted five specific actions will be effective in addressing acute malnutrition in conflict and disaster-affected countries, and in humanitarian emergencies.
Analysis, prevention, support
These include enhanced analysis of the determinants of childhood wasting; ensure essential maternal and child nutrition interventions for early prevention, such as regular screening and the introduction of specialized nutritional food products as part of food support emergency.
“At UNHCR, we are work hard to improve analytics and targeting to ensure that we reach the most at-risk children, including refugees and internally displaced people,” said Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The partners emphasize that scaling these actions as a coordinated package will be important for both prevention and treatment as well as saving lives.
“The global food crisis also a health crisis, and A vicious cycle: malnutrition leads to disease, and disease leads to malnutrition,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head WHO General manager.
“Currently, urgent support is needed in the worst-affected countries to protect the lives and health of children, including ensuring vital access to healthy food and nutrition services, especially for women and children.”
