UNICEF on Tuesday said that nearly two million children are suffering from severe wasting, also known as severe acute malnutrition.
Warning of an impending crisis, the organization emphasized that these children face a heightened risk of death due to significant funding shortages for life-saving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) in 12 countries, including Pakistan.
Levels of severe wasting in children under five years remain alarmingly high in several countries, fueled by conflict, economic shocks, and climate crises. Children suffering from wasting, caused by a lack of nutritious and safe foods and repeated bouts of disease, are dangerously thin, and their immune systems are weak, leaving them vulnerable to growth failure, poor development, and death, according to UNICEF.
Victor Aguayo, UNICEF’s Director of Child Nutrition and Development, called for immediate action to save the lives of approximately two million children who are struggling with severe malnutrition. “In the past two years, an unprecedented global response has allowed the scale-up of nutrition programs to contain child wasting and its associated mortality in countries severely affected by conflict, climate, and economic shocks, leading to a maternal and child nutrition crisis,” Aguayo said.
“But urgent action is needed now to save the lives of nearly two million children who are fighting this silent killer,” he added.
To address the issue, UNICEF is calling for $165 million in a renewed ‘No Time to Waste 2024 Update and Call to Urgent Action’ to fund therapeutic feeding, treatment, and care for the two million children at risk of death due to critical shortages of RUTF. Notably, UNICEF launched the “No Time to Waste Acceleration Plan” in 2022, aimed at addressing severe malnutrition for nearly eight million children across 15 affected countries.
(Input: ANI)