More than 600 malnourished children have died in northern Nigeria within six months due to a lack of access to proper care, international medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), has said.
The organisation described the situation as an “alarming malnutrition crisis,” warning that the scale of the emergency exceeds previous projections, with foreign aid drying up and compounding the problem.
According to a statement released by MSF on Friday, the most severe and life-threatening form of malnutrition among children increased by a staggering 208 per cent between January and June 2025, compared to the same period last year.
“Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our facilities since the beginning of 2025 due to a lack of timely access to care,” MSF said.
The group linked the worsening crisis to sharp cuts in international funding, particularly from the United States, under the administration of former President Donald Trump. Similar reductions in support from the United Kingdom and the European Union have further strained efforts to tackle the growing emergency.
MSF’s country representative in Nigeria, Ahmed Aldikhari, said the funding shortfalls, alongside soaring living costs and increasing jihadist attacks in the region, were having a devastating impact on vulnerable communities.
“The true scale of the crisis exceeds all predictions,” Aldikhari said.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women are also being hit hard. A recent MSF survey involving 750 mothers showed that more than half were “acutely malnourished,” with 13 per cent suffering from the most severe form of malnutrition.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) also raised the alarm earlier in the week, revealing that nearly 31 million Nigerians are currently grappling with acute hunger.
WFP’s country director, David Stevenson, warned that the agency would be forced to suspend emergency food and nutrition assistance for 1.3 million people in northeast Nigeria by the end of July due to “critical funding shortfalls.”
Northern Nigeria has long struggled with insurgency, but the current wave of malnutrition threatens to deepen the region’s humanitarian crisis unless urgent interventions are made.
