Chad Facing Malnutrition and Meningitis Emergencies

Severe acute malnutrition in parts of Chad has reached emergency levels, requiring immediate life-saving interventions, the international medical humanitarian organization MSF said today.

Nutrition assessments carried out by MSF have revealed alarming levels of malnutrition among children in multiple districts of the country. An expanding meningitis outbreak in Chad is also threatening the population and requires an urgent response.

“We can see clearly that in some parts of Chad there are already very alarming rates of malnutrition among children,” said Dr. Kodjo Edoh, MSF’s head of mission in Chad. “We are concerned that this situation might also be affecting other districts in the country and we urge the Chadian government and humanitarian agencies to investigate and act.”

The discovered rates are of great concern because the month of February normally features the lowest malnutrition rates of the year. A considerable deterioration has taken place since UNICEF collected data in the same region in August and September 2011, which showed 4.6 percent for severe malnutrition and 18 percent for global.

Chad 2011 © Marja Scholten MSF staff carrying out a meningitis vaccination campaign in December 2011, using the MenAfriVac vaccine, which protects for far longer than other meningitis vaccines