Malnutrition widespread in drought-affected areas

Malnutrition among children and women is widespread in Djibouti, according to newly released results of a nutrition and health assessment of drought-affected areas of the tiny Horn of Africa nation. Moderate acute malnutrition rates were high in communities dependent on food aid, according to the survey carried out in May by the UN World Health Organization and Djibouti's health ministry in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). "High rates of moderate acute malnutrition and some cases of severe malnutrition were found in communities that had a high morbidity rate," the survey, released on Thursday, said. The assessment showed that the main health problems among children were diarrhoea, fever, respiratory disease and measles, and illness was often associated with malnutrition. Chronic malnutrition or stunting was found to be very high - over 40 percent - in all communities that were surveyed in the country whose population is 700,000. The cumulative impact of continuous droughts, leading to household food insecurity and the high rates of morbidity in children, was reflected in low height-for-age, it added. The survey also found high rates of anaemia in women and children. Many hospital admissions, especially of severely anaemic women, were observed during the survey. The assessment recommended that supplementary rations be given to pregnant and lactating women in areas where a general ration was being distributed. Mobile outreach teams needed to be strengthened to address the health needs of affected people who had no access to health facilities, it added. The assessment also recommended the establishment of therapeutic feeding centres with a view to improving the management of severe malnutrition needs. Three consecutive failed rainy seasons had led to widespread livestock deaths and a significant decline in milk production, creating serious food insecurity in Djibouti, it said. In May, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) reported that a total of 5,000 mt of food aid was required to meet the critical needs of an estimated 47,000 drought-affected people in Djibouti for the next six months. According to FEWS Net, those in need included some 9,500 undernourished children, while an additional 5,000 people were in need of urgent medical care. On 27 April, the UN issued a flash appeal for US $7.5 million to fund operations to provide food and water to those affected by the drought in Djibouti. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in a separate report, said in the longer term the government of Djibouti needed support to strengthen its disaster-management capacity. Both the government and WFP were distributing food aid, but major funding shortfalls existed for critical interventions in human health, livestock support services and agriculture, OCHA said.