MOGADISHU, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday warned of a surge in severe malnutrition among children across Somalia, with health facilities it supports seeing record admissions since the devastating drought in 2023.
The charity said nutritional clinics that once played the key role in preventing widespread malnutrition are closing due to funding cuts, leaving vulnerable families without access to early care.
"Parents simply cannot afford food and small children are the first to starve," said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC delegation in Somalia, in a statement issued in the capital city of Mogadishu.
The ICRC said that in May alone, the stabilization center at Kismayo General Hospital admitted 277 critically ill children, the highest monthly number since 2023.
Between January and May, the center admitted 863 patients, an increase of almost 70 percent compared with the previous five months, the ICRC said.
Revised humanitarian projections estimate that food insecurity will worsen in the coming months, with nearly 47,000 children expected to suffer from acute malnutrition, the charity said.
The ICRC said stabilization centers like the one in Kismayo in southern Somalia provide life-saving treatment for children under the age of five who are suffering from medical complications brought on by hunger. However, such facilities are scarce.
The relief agency said that the Somali Red Crescent Society, which it supports, is also seeing an increase in patients receiving treatment at its outpatient nutrition clinics.
The rising needs come amid intensifying conflict, mass displacement, and a cycle of floods and droughts that are pushing communities to the brink.
"Conflict is uprooting families. Floods are destroying crops, and some areas are already parched by drought," Grand said. ■
