"Alarming increase" in malnutrition - MSF

The health agency, Medecins sans frontieres (MSF), has reported an alarming increase in malnutrition rates, especially in the central province of Karuzi, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated in its weekly information update. An MSF nutritional survey in November found out that 23 percent of the population were mlnourished and 14 percent severely undernourished, "MSF urgently reommends renewed distribution of food aid at the household level," OCHA noted. Meanwhile, to tackle malaria in the region more effectively, MSF is curently supporting hospitals and health posts with medication, and spraying insecticides in the worst affected regions. "Distribution of 10,000 mosquito nets is underway," the update said. The NGO is providing vehicles to enable mobile health teams to provide treatment in remote areas, besides conducting surveys with government health experts on the resistances of different types of malaria to different types of medication.