Malaria remains one of the leading illnesses affecting malnourished children in Nigeria, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders.

Alibaba Nuraddeen, acting medical team leader with MSF in Katsina, said this while speaking to journalists to mark World Malaria Day 2026.

Ms Nuraddeen said malaria ranked among the top three diseases treated in the organisation’s Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centres (ITFCs) in 2025.

He said the centres, which catered to severely malnourished children, recorded about 26,000 paediatric admissions, many involving cases of co-infection.

According to him, malaria cases were recorded alongside acute watery diarrhoea and sepsis, forming a major threat to child survival in northern Nigeria.

“Malaria and malnutrition are deeply interconnected. Malaria reduces appetite and food intake, while malnutrition weakens immunity, making children more susceptible to severe infection,” he said.

Ms Nuraddeen warned that failure to properly diagnose malaria in malnourished children could prolong illness and delay recovery.

“A child with untreated or recurrent malaria over weeks may eventually slip into malnutrition,” he said.

He added that MSF had made malaria screening mandatory for every child admitted into its feeding programmes.

According to him, World Health Organization (WHO) data shows that Nigeria accounts for 24.3 per cent of global malaria cases and 30.3 per cent of related deaths, contributing more than half of the cases in West Africa.

He further said that the Federal Government was expanding its malaria vaccination programme as part of efforts to curb infections.

“The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said the programme, initially piloted in Bayelsa and Kebbi, has now been extended to Bauchi and Ondo states.

“The agency’s Executive Director, Dr Muyi Aina, said the expansion was part of renewed strategies to reduce malaria burden and child mortality in the country.”

 (NAN)