Malnourishment a crippling problem in Africa – GulfToday

Malnourishment a crippling problem in Africa – GulfToday

Malnourished children are flooding the paediatric ward of the main hospital in Ethiopia’s Gode city as the worst drought for 40 years has forced many families to leave their homes to search for aid. Last year, the hospital received 188 malnourished children, but now they saw that in a single month; many families were arriving with several malnourished children. The Horn of Africa region is facing the driest conditions in more than four decades after three consecutive rainy seasons failed, according to the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP). The World Food Programme said around 15 million people need food in the Horn of Africa, a figure that could rise to 20 million by the end of the year. Many families have left their home to seek aid. Nimo Mohammed, a 35-year-old mother of nine who is about to have another baby, now lives with her entire family in a camp in Ethiopia’s southeastern Somali region. More than 10,000 people are getting aid there – most of them women and children. They are living in makeshift houses made of sticks and covered with plastic sheets or clothes. One in five children do not eat a diet that meets their nutrient