Ertharin Cosuin, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said that effort made by the Government of Nigeria and the humanitarian community in alleviating hunger has already made progress in Northeast Nigeria. The team has also reported that have already extended their reach through the increasing number of people suffering from years of conflict in the area. She said this after she visited Pompomari camp to aid more than 2,000 people and their displaced families in Damaturu which serves as a refugee camp for Nigerians hailing from Yobe and Borno.
The World Food Program has rendered cash assistance which has been credited to their mobile phone. Moreover, children under five were fed with peanut-based supplements high in nutrition. They have also given nutritional support to pregnant women in dire need of guidance to ensure the health of their unborn children, WFP.org reports.
In Nigeria, children are suffering from various diseases, one of the most prevalent of which is severe acute malnutrition. In December 2016, the World Food Program was able to combine rapid air-and-road intervention. Furthermore, the organizations are working together to reach their target of 1.8 million men, women and children in the first half of the year.
The World Health Organizationin a report claimed that one third of more than 700 health facilities in Borno State have been totally devastated. Most of the remaining facilities are also not functioning well. They also lack the necessary equipment and medical professionals to operate and address the health needs of their citizens. Polio remains on the rise in Nigeria despite targets to eradicate it in 2005. This explains why the WHO’s top priority in helping this poverty-stricken nation is to help save lives and cease the spread of different diseases that affect an estimated 6 million people who need health assistance during times of crisis.
