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Kousseri (Agenzia Fides) – In northern Cameroon, as in much of Africa’s western Sahel band, there is an unusually high child malnutrition rate. Six children died from malnutrition in Kousseri hospital, northern Cameroon, in July alone. “In the 10 health centres in Kousseri city, malnutrition cases [moderate and severe] went from 75 in May to 166 in July,” says a local Health Ministry official. Poor nutrition is common here and most of the five million people lack access to safe water and sanitation. 55,000 under-five children in Cameroon's North and Far North regions have severe acute malnutrition, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that is, about 70%. The children who died recently or who are in a fragile state at Kousseri hospital have come to the hospital in an advanced state of malnutrition and with medical complications and sometimes it is almost impossible to save them. Access to treatment is also a problem; only 20 of the 43 health districts in the North and Far North regions have the trained staff, equipment, and means to provide free malnutrition treatment. As in other countries across West and Central Africa the causes of malnutrition in Cameroon are many - crop failure on top of chronic poverty, poor weaning and infant feeding practices and lack of access to basic services. Heavy flooding and a cholera outbreak in the area are also exacerbating the nutrition problem, as the crops have been destroyed. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 31/8/2010)
