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A Stabilization Center opens in Mashamari to combat malnutrition.

Dr Mohammed Kassim, the Manager of the Stabilisation Centre (left) explaining a point to dignitaries during a tour of the facility shortly after the opening ceremony in Mashamari

Dr Mohammed Kassim, the Manager of the Stabilisation Centre (left) explaining a point to dignitaries during a tour of the facility shortly after the opening ceremony in Mashamari

The Stabilization Centre in Mashamari being officially opened.

The center with a 40-bed capacity has been set-up to ensure timely and quality clinical care for children diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).

We are killing two birds with one stone. One is to support children who need the service. Secondly, when the emergency ends and IRC leaves, the center will remain an added value to the community”
— Mr Mulugeta Yohannes,IRC Field Coordinator
MAIDUGURI, BORNO, NIGERIA, August 22, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ --
MAIDUGURI: July 31, 2017. Members of the community drawn from all walks of life, gathered in Mashamari to witness the official opening of the newly established stabilization center, a facility that is equipped to offer treatment for children who are battling Severe Acute Malnutrition. Borno State local and health authorities were in solidarity with the residents of Mashamari neighborhood, IRC staff and volunteers as they all joined hands to witness the official opening of the medical facility. The center has been setup by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) with the support of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA).

The centre with a 40-bed capacity has been set-up to ensure timely and quality clinical care for children diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). The IRC already operates another Stabilization Centre at the Umaru Shehu Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri where over 650 children diagnosed with malnutrition have been admitted and treated since September 2016.

As part of its humanitarian response to the crisis in North-east Nigeria, the IRC provides a high-impact nutrition program in Adamawa and Borno States. In Konduga, Jere and the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, IRC runs a combined 12 Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) sites and 13 Infant Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Centers. The OTP sites where supplementary feeding is provided to children with acute malnutrition deficiency and routine medical care while the IYCF centers are platforms where activities including the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life as well as appropriate feeding practices for the infant and young child are conducted.

Welcoming participants to the ceremony, IRC’s Field Coordinator for Borno and Yobe States, Mr. Mulugeta Yohannes thanked all community volunteers and collaborating partners for IRC’s project while highlighting the double benefits of the centre being inaugurated. “Today, we are killing two birds with one stone. One is to support children who need the service. Secondly, when the emergency ends and IRC leaves, the centre will remain an added value to the community”

In his own address, Alhaji Babagana Habiso representing the Executive Director of the State Primary Health Care and Development Agency (SPHCDA), Dr. Sule Mele recognized the assistance rendered so far to the people in need through various health interventions. “While I will request IRC to expand the scope of its services in Borno State, it is equally important to remind members of Mashamari community to use the facilities provided in such a way that will fully benefit our children who need to recover from malnutrition”.

The key highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of a drama sketch on the importance of a balanced diet in the healthy development of a child by the IRC community volunteers.

Prior to the construction of the Stabilization Centre in the densely populated Mashamari neighbourhood with many cases requiring services, caregivers and mothers reeled under the strain of inability to seek timely treatment for their sick children given the distance they had to travel before reaching the nearest stabilization centre.

The new Stabilization Centre is open to all in need of services and at no charge to the patients: The IRC staff and volunteers will seek to adhere to good practices of nutrition programming that are aligned to national protocols.

The IRC and State authorities are grateful to the USAID, ECHO, Europe Aid, SIDA, the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation and others for their financial and moral support which include a cross-range of life-saving humanitarian interventions, which have been delivered to the needy populations in the North East of Nigeria

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About the International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and regain control of their future

Kayode Egbeleye
International Rescue Committee
+234-8142164269
email us here

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