MSF Treats 425,634 Nigerian Children for Malnutrition in 2025

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has disclosed that its teams treated 425,634 children for acute malnutrition across northern Nigeria in 2025, representing a 41.8 per cent increase over the previous year, as the organisation called for sustained action to address the country's growing health and humanitarian crises.

The disclosure was made in Abuja on Wednesday during an event marking 30 years of MSF's humanitarian operations in Nigeria, which brought together government officials, diplomats, United Nations representatives, community leaders, health professionals and humanitarian partners. The organisation's Country Representative, Dr Ahmed Aldikhari, said the scale of malnutrition, particularly in northern Nigeria, had become one of the country's most pressing health emergencies.

He stressed, however, that medical treatment alone could not resolve the crisis and urged stronger preventive interventions and collaboration among government, donors, communities and humanitarian organisations. "Treatment is essential. It is why we exist, but treatment alone cannot resolve a crisis of this scale. We cannot treat our way out of it. We must also prevent it," Aldikhari said. He noted that malnutrition, infectious diseases, maternal health needs, displacement and insecurity were closely interconnected, explaining that children weakened by malnutrition were more vulnerable to disease, while displacement could cut families off from food, clean water and healthcare.

The figures represent a dramatic escalation of the nutrition crisis in Nigeria's northern states. In 2024, MSF treated just over 300,165 children, a 25 per cent increase from the estimated 240,132 treated in 2023. The 2025 figure of 425,634 represents an additional 125,469 children compared with the previous year, underscoring the accelerating nature of the emergency. MSF attributed the surge to a combination of worsening insecurity and displacement, heightened food insecurity, disease outbreaks, reductions in humanitarian funding, and the broader economic crisis.

The organisation disclosed that between January and August 2026, its teams had already treated 57,999 children with malnutrition in inpatient facilities and another 220,995 through outpatient programmes, indicating that the crisis has shown no signs of abating. MSF also cited the Food and Agriculture Organization's projection that 34.7 million Nigerians could face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity during the 2026 lean season, while more than 5.4 million children were expected to suffer acute malnutrition. "The crisis has remained critical into 2026," the organisation warned.

Beyond the statistics, the anniversary event brought the human impact of MSF's interventions into sharp focus. Hussaini Usman, a noma survivor from Sokoto State, recounted how the disease deformed his face as a child and subjected him to years of stigma and rejection. He said he continued his education despite the discrimination and eventually obtained his medical degree before learning about MSF-supported treatment at the Noma Children Hospital in Sokoto. "MSF has treated me freely. From that time, the chapter of my life has changed," he said. Usman now participates in community awareness activities on noma prevention and has been employed by the organisation.

A community leader from Jigawa State also recounted how MSF treated a woman suffering from obstetric fistula, rehabilitated her and reunited her with her husband and family. The woman has since given birth to two children. The testimonials underscored the breadth of MSF's work in Nigeria, which has expanded from its initial response to a meningitis epidemic in 1996 in Kano, Bauchi and Katsina to programmes covering maternal and child health, nutrition, vaccination, surgery, tuberculosis, HIV care and emergency response across nine states.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, commended MSF for its three decades of service to Nigerians affected by conflict, displacement, malnutrition and disease outbreaks, saying the Federal Government valued partnerships with credible humanitarian organisations. The UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, Mrs Elsie Atahor, said MSF had treated more than 400,000 children for acute malnutrition across northern Nigeria in 2025, and stressed the need to address the conditions that continued to drive humanitarian needs. As MSF enters its fourth decade in Nigeria, the organisation's call for stronger collaboration and greater emphasis on prevention reflects the sobering reality that millions of Nigerian children remain at risk.