Medical aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned that the nutritional situation for young children in the Ikongo district in south-eastern Madagascar could deteriorate rapidly as the humanitarian situation worsens.
The organisation says the district is entering a critical lean season, a time when food supplies are at their lowest. This period also overlaps with the cyclone season and a surge in malaria cases, placing additional strain on local health services.
MSF says repeated extreme weather events have disrupted access to healthcare and weakened the long-term nutritional resilience of communities in the area.
Dr Roger Kiamviu, a Project Coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières in the region, says the situation requires urgent attention.
“We are entering a very sensitive period where food shortages, malaria and the cyclone season overlap. This combination puts young children at particular risk of malnutrition, especially in communities that have already been weakened by repeated climate shocks,” he says.
MSF teams are currently working with local health facilities to strengthen nutrition screening and treatment programmes, while also preparing for potential increases in malnutrition cases in the coming months.
–ChannelAfrica–
