The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has called on the governments of five states in the northern part of the country to declare a state of emergency in their health sectors.

The NRCS said the call became necessary to address the growing threat of malnutrition affecting vulnerable communities in Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

The president of NRCS, Oluyemi Adetayo, stated at a workshop on Tuesday in Kano that the state of emergency would address what he described as the “silent crisis” of malnutrition.

Mr Adetayo, however, said the society would provide targeted nutritional support to children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers in the concerned states.

According to him, the appeal aims to implement specific interventions to address the alarming rise in malnutrition, particularly in communities affected by food insecurity, conflict, and climate-related challenges.

“We are launching this appeal because malnutrition is gaining ground, and people are unable to meet basic nutritional needs.

“When we visited some public hospitals, we realised there was a surge in illnesses linked to poor nutrition, with serious implications for physical and cognitive development in children.

“At times, due to a lack of essential nutrients in some children, they tend to have poor character formation, that alone makes it an emergency,” Mr Adetayo said.

Earlier, Aminu Abdullahi, the acting director of healthcare at NRCS, stated that malnutrition remained one of the most underreported health issues in the country.

According to Mr Abdullahi, there are thousands of severely malnourished individuals, especially children.

“Increasing cases of malnutrition are often linked to other health challenges, such as diarrhoea, malaria and broader impacts of insecurity,” he said.

The acting director added that NRCS engaged communities through awareness campaigns, nutritional screenings, and data collection to identify malnourished individuals.

“In the North-East and North-West regions alone, about 5.4 million children are malnourished, out of which 1.8 million are severely malnourished.

“Our aim is to send response across nine states of Adamawa, Borno, Benue, Bauchi, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Yobe and Zamfara.

“The NRCS has mothers’ clubs in communities, who have been trained to identify malnourished children, promote the use of locally available food resources, and refer severe cases to hospitals.

“They are also trained to follow up with discharged patients to ensure recovery and prevent relapse,” Mr Abdullahi said.

He identified insecurity, displacement, poor access to farmland, unsafe water sources, and the prevalence of malaria as complicating the malnutrition crisis.

(NAN)