Hunger-related deaths signal deteriorating situation

Twenty-nine children in southern Malawi died of hunger-related illnesses between January and September, the World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed. That these deaths occurred ahead of the traditional 'lean season' between harvests underlined the urgent need for food aid in the country, WFP spokeswoman Antonella D'Aprile told IRIN. "We are not yet in the hungry season, which is usually between December and March, and it is very unfortunate that we have children dying," she noted. The deaths were recorded by health officials in the Nsanje district, south of Blantyre, the commercial capital. In June the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee warned that some 4.2 million people would need food aid in the year ahead. Key reasons for the latest food crisis have been identified as drought, exacerbated by HIV/AIDS and the late delivery of fertilisers and seed. In August the UN appealed for $88 million to respond to the hunger crisis in Malawi; so far, donors have contributed or pledged just over $15 million. "If we want to meet all the needs, then we need more donors to come forward," D'Aprile urged. "We are talking of an acute [child] malnutrition rate of about 5 percent in the country, according to the latest figure from the National Statistics Office. We have to say that even in good harvest years we still have children who are malnourished and who may die - it's a situation that has not changed over the last 10 years - but we know this year we have a serious food shortage," she commented. WFP was conducting food aid distributions, with therapeutic feeding for malnourished children and support programmes for people with HIV/AIDS, in seven of the worst-hit districts in the south of the country, including Nsanje. The food aid agency aimed to reach 2 million people at the peak of the crisis. D'Aprile said the government of Malawi, with budgetary support from the European Union and the UK Department for International Development, planned to assist a further 2.2 million people in the north and central parts of the country. WFP, the government, and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) would conduct a screening exercise at health centre nutritional units "to monitor whether the cases of acutely malnourished kids are increasing, and also the number of deaths", she explained to IRIN. Tracking malnutrition in all districts would allow WFP and its partners to "assess the situation - as it is now ahead of the hunger season - so we can compare it to last year and maybe we can intensify feeding, etc". UNICEF Malawi spokesman Kwakwarhi Mwanami said admissions to nutritional rehabilitation units in August this year showed a dramatic increase over the corresponding period in 2004. "According to the latest data obtained from 62 out of 90 nutritional rehabilitation units supported by UNICEF, the number of children admitted for treatment of severe malnutrition has increased significantly. The situation is deteriorating rapidly," he noted. Nationally, there was a 44 percent increase in the number of admissions to nutritional rehabilitation units in August this year compared to August 2004. The central and southern parts of the country were most affected, with admissions to nutritional units up by 75 percent and 34 percent respectively. D'Aprile stressed that "we need resources now, in order to buy enough commodities ahead of the hunger season and be able to preposition food in rural areas before the rainy season" to meet the escalating need.