Médecins Sans Frontières warns of deepening catastrophe as malnutrition and insecurity overwhelm hospitals
BY DANJUMA AMODU
Médecins Sans Frontières has raised fresh alarm over what it describes as a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Nigeria, warning that worsening hunger, disease outbreaks and insecurity are pushing thousands of vulnerable families, especially children, toward death and despair.
In its 2025 Nigeria Country Report of Activities, the international medical humanitarian organisation painted a troubling picture of overstretched hospitals, rising cases of severe acute malnutrition, and communities trapped between poverty and violent conflict across northern Nigeria.
The report revealed that hundreds of thousands of children are now battling life-threatening malnutrition in Africa’s largest economy, exposing what humanitarian workers call a widening gap between economic output and human survival.
According to MSF, more than 250,000 severely malnourished children were treated in outpatient facilities in 2024, while over 76,000 children with dangerous complications linked to malnutrition required emergency hospital admission.
“Malnutrition is no longer just an emergency during the lean season. For many families, it has become a permanent condition of survival.” — MSF 2025 Nigeria Country Report
The organisation warned that the crisis is no longer seasonal or temporary. It has evolved into a chronic humanitarian emergency fuelled by inflation, displacement, insecurity and collapsing access to healthcare.
In states across the Northwest and Northeast, medical facilities supported by MSF are struggling under the weight of increasing admissions linked to severe hunger, measles, malaria and respiratory infections.
The situation in Bauchi State reflects the scale of the emergency. Between January and April 2025 alone, nearly 28,000 malnourished children were treated — a sharp increase compared to the same period last year.
MSF also highlighted the deadly combination of malaria and malnutrition in Kano and surrounding states, warning that both conditions are reinforcing each other and placing children at even greater risk of death.
Many parents now arrive at treatment centres after exhausting every coping mechanism, including skipping meals, selling possessions and withdrawing children from school, the organisation said.
Beyond hunger, the report drew attention to the impact of insecurity on healthcare delivery. In conflict-affected communities, violence, displacement and fear continue to cut millions off from medical services. MSF teams are operating in fragile environments where healthcare workers face serious logistical and security challenges while responding to disease outbreaks and medical emergencies.
The organisation also reflected on its long-running intervention against Lassa fever in Ebonyi State, where it supported treatment, laboratory systems and emergency preparedness before formally transferring responsibilities to local authorities this year.
Despite these interventions, MSF warned that humanitarian needs across Nigeria are expanding faster than available resources.
The report called for urgent and sustained investment in nutrition, primary healthcare, disease surveillance and protection for vulnerable populations. It warned that failure to act decisively could worsen an already fragile humanitarian situation.
For many observers, the report represents more than a medical assessment. It is an indictment of the harsh realities confronting millions of Nigerians trapped between economic hardship, insecurity and inadequate access to basic healthcare.
