Nairobi, October 25 (IANS). Kenya’s National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said some 479,498 children under the age of five in the country’s 23 dry regions are facing severe malnutrition and need treatment.
Although malnutrition cases are still high, the number has declined compared to 7,60,488 in July, according to NDMA’s September update released in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
“The decline in cases is due to the availability of milk (albeit in smaller quantities) which has been prioritized for children under five years of age and families consuming different diets than before,” NDMA said.
The authority said 110 pregnant and 169 lactating mothers were malnourished and needed care, Xinhua news agency reported. This number is less than the July figures. Malnutrition cases have arisen from adverse climate events, low incomes and poor health service-seeking behaviour.
The NDMA also noted that 1 million Kenyans still needed humanitarian assistance, a figure that also changed from July.
According to the World Health Organization, by the end of June about 10.8 million children and nearly 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Horn of Africa were severely malnourished and in need of treatment.
The UN health agency said the crisis was fueled by escalating conflict and climate disasters, including drought and recent El Niño rainfall, which caused severe flooding and displaced thousands of people.
–IANS
MKS/AKJ
