Children dying of malnutrition in North Darfur’s Kabkabiya

The Kabkabiya camps for the displaced in North Darfur are witnessing an increase in child deaths owing to acute malnutrition and infection by an unknown disease. “The symptoms are body swelling, weight loss, severe fatigue, sweating, vomiting and diarrhoea,” the women’s coordinator of the camps for the displaced in Kabkabiya locality told Radio Dabanga. “87 children were infected in September and October at the camps of El Mawashi, Hai El Matar, Domi, Tartara, Sibak El Khel, and El Salam A and B,” she said. “Moreover, 17 children died of malnutrition.” The women’s coordinator appealed to health and humanitarian organisations to intervene, and save the children. ‘Simple infections’ Ibrahim Mukhtar Nahar, nutrition officer at Kabkabiya Hospital, confirmed “some deaths among children in September, and two in October owing to malnutrition, resulting from the dire economic conditions the people are living in, and the parents’ failure to promptly take them to any hospital or health centre for treatment”.  However, he strongly denied the spread of any epidemic diseases among large numbers of children. “Infections causing fever and diarrhoea have spread among children in the locality, but these are simple infections.” Via Radio Dabanga, he told the parents to immediately take their children to the nearest health centre in case a child has diarrhoea or starts to vomit. File photo: A displaced mother in Dereig camp, Nyala locality, South Darfur Related: 16 Central Darfur children dead from mystery disease (10 August 2014)