Toronto/Geneva, June 22, 2010—World leaders meeting at the G8 and G20 summits will not succeed in improving mother and child health in the developing world unless they fundamentally change how they address malnutrition and establish new sustainable funding sources to combat this treatable and preventable condition, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today.

Malnutrition affects 195 million children worldwide and is the underlying cause of at least one-third of the eight million annual deaths of children under five years of age. It can cause stunting, cognitive impairment, and lead to greater susceptibility to disease. The problem is inextricably linked with mother and child health, as malnourished mothers give birth to underweight children, perpetuating a vicious cycle. Many mothers living in areas of high food insecurity do not have access to foods like milk and eggs that contain the high-quality protein and other essential nutrients that their children need. Currently, most international food aid consists of nutritionally inadequate fortified corn-soy flours, which do not provide the nutrients young children need most.

“Foods we would never give our own children to eat are being sent overseas as food aid to the most vulnerable children in malnutrition hotspots in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia,” said MSF International President Dr. Christophe Fournier. “This double standard must stop. As the world’s leading food aid donors, G8 countries are uniquely positioned to have a major impact on reducing malnutrition. If world leaders in Muskoka and Toronto want to truly roll back mother and child mortality, it is imperative they commit to reforming key parts of the global food aid system. We know what works and what children need – let’s simply get it to them.”

In addition to improving the quality of food aid provided to young children, an effective overall nutrition response will require substantial financial resources. The World Bank estimates it will cost $12 billion per year to address malnutrition in the most-affected countries. In a time of global economic austerity, current funding from donors is insufficient, volatile, and unpredictable. Sustainable sources of funding through innovative financial mechanisms are required, such as the financial transaction tax currently promoted by the European Union. A share of the funds raised by such means must be earmarked to global health issues such as nutrition, HIV/AIDS treatment, and tuberculosis research.

In 2009, MSF treated 208,000 children affected by severe acute malnutrition in its programs. Although this is barely one percent of the 20 million children estimated to be affected, this represents more than 15 percent of the 1,200,000 children who received treatment.

“Nongovernmental agencies should not be expected to carry such a huge burden in fighting malnutrition,” said Dr. Fournier. “Donor governments need to step up to fill the gap and help the most-affected countries follow lifesaving nutrition programs that have been successfully implemented in countries like Mexico, Thailand, and Brazil. We need sustainable sources of funding, like the proposed financial transaction levy, that dedicate a share to global health – not the one-shot pledges that G8 summits are prone to deliver.”

The G8 gathering coincides with the onset of a particularly harsh “hunger gap” season in Africa’s Sahel region, the period when staple food crops are exhausted before the next harvest. Most countries in the region are already experiencing increasing rates of childhood malnutrition. MSF is operating emergency nutrition programs—and reinforcing existing ones—in Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Mali, and Sudan.

Interview with medical coordinator in Chad, Dr. Benoit Kayembe

A mother cares for her child at the 50-bed therapeutic feeding center that MSF set up in the hospital in Massakory, in Hadjer Lamis region north of the capital, N'Djamena. Staff at the center treat severely malnourished children with medical complications. Chad 2010 © MSF

The food situation is serious throughout the Chadian Sahel strip that extends from the Hadjer Lamis and Kanem regions through Batha and Guéra. This is the result of two successive years of drought, swarms of locusts, a lack of drinking water and no access to care. The health care system in this region is shaky, even non-existent in some areas.

Could you describe the medical situation?

The best way to describe the magnitude of the food situation is to tell the story of Rabia, a mother age 20 or so. She brought us her one-year old son, who was immediately admitted in our program, suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Rabia had already lost three children from this illness that can, however, be easily treated. Here we see dozens of mothers who lose their children to acute malnutrition every year.

Since we started our action here, more than three weeks ago, we have admitted more than 1,000 malnourished children into our program. Around 100 of them had to be hospitalized.

Could you describe the program?

Currently, in Massakoury, we have one ITFC, inpatient therapeutic feeding center, where malnourished children who have serious additional medical complications, such as respiratory infections, are hospitalized, and 15 ATFCs ambulatory therapeutic feeding centers, where children are treated, but as outpatients in the various zones around Massakoury. Most of our patients live in places that are about a five-hour drive from N’Djamena. It is thus essential to set up mobile units to give patients easier access. Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications are then referred to the Massakoury ITFC by MSF teams.

How are these children being treated?

Children treated in the outpatient programs are each given a systematic medical treatment and a week’s supply of a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) product made of peanuts and milk. It is rich in the micronutrients and vitamins that are needed by these children.

The children hospitalized in Massakoury are very weak, unable to drink or swallow, and even unconscious. In this case, beside medical care, they are given therapeutic milk initially, and RUTF later, once they start recovering. As soon as their condition allows it, they are followed as outpatients by the ATFC.

MSF is calling for more organizations to intervene in the region.

Some actors are already active in certain regions of Chad, but this is not the case in all the regions affected. It is necessary to have more actors involved to meet the needs of nearly two million people who are thought to require food aid in Chadin the coming months.

If the international community does not intervene rapidly, this country is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis.

MSF is currently active in the Batha, Guera, Hadjer Lamis, Salamat and Quaddai regions as well as in the capital N’Djamena. It is also planning to carry out an assessment around Massaguet where the situation seems to be as serious as in Massakoury

How are the local authorities reacting to the situation?

The local, regional, and national authorities are aware that the food situation is very serious, owing to poor crops resulting from the drought and swarms of locusts in the last two years. The fields didn’t produce much and the crops are of very poor quality. Food prices are up and cattle breeders are selling their cattle to get money to buy food for their family.

Childhood malnutrition is not limited to the countries covered in Starved For Attention. MSF issued a press release today about a building nutritional crisis occurring now in Chad.

MSF Calls for Increased Deployment of Assistance to Stem Alarming Child Malnutrition

A mother brings her child to the 50-bed therapeutic feeding center that MSF set up in the hospital in Massakory, in Hadjer Lamis region north of the capital, N'Djamena. Staff at the center treat severely malnourished children with medical complications. Chad 2010 © MSF

Geneva/New York, June 14, 2010 – People living in the Sahelian belt of Chad are facing one of the worst nutrition crises in recent years. The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for a faster and larger deployment of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly children under the age of five.

Several factors, including erratic rainfall, failed harvests, soaring food prices, early depletion of food stocks, and poor access to healthcare, have contributed to increased rates of malnutrition. In the Hadjer Lamis region, recent rapid nutrition screenings show that over five percent of children less than five years of age are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and are at risk of dying. An estimated 5,000 children in Hadjer Lamis alone are in urgent need of nutritional assistance.

“We are very worried about the number of severely malnourished children that our medical teams are seeing – close to 3,000 children were admitted to our programs in the month of May,” said Dr. Benoit Kayembe, MSF emergency medical coordinator in Chad.

This current rise in malnutrition is especially alarming since it coincides with the beginning of the “hunger season.” More children are at risk of becoming severely malnourished in the coming weeks, until the next expected harvest in October.

National authorities and local and international agencies have initiated a response to the severe food security crisis. Despite these efforts, there are still many communities not receiving food and nutritional assistance. MSF calls for an accelerated and expanded emergency response in all affected areas to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, especially children under five, whose nutritional needs are especially acute.

MSF is currently implementing emergency nutrition interventions in the Hadjer Lamis, Batha, Guéra, Salamat, and Quaddai regions, as well as in the capital N’Djamena. Activities include in-patient and ambulatory therapeutic feeding centers and targeted food distributions to over 60,000 children in the coming weeks.

Chad is not the only country facing a malnutrition crisis. Most countries located in the Sahel region are experiencing increasing rates of childhood malnutrition. MSF has also already begun operating emergency nutrition programs—and reinforcing existing ones—in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Sudan.

MSF has been working in Chad since 1981. The organization is providing medical assistance to resident and displaced populations in Abéché, Adé, Kerfi, and Dogdoré, as well as to refugees from the neighboring Sudanese region of Darfur and from Central African Republic. MSF has also intervened in Chad in response to medical emergencies, such as measles and meningitis outbreaks.