In Karamoja, in eastern Uganda, malnutrition is cyclical and chronic, but during the past
months the situation has been worsening in many places.
The population has no crops, they have nothing to eat in the coming period, there's no
ruin, so I'm expecting the situation to be worse than what we are seeing now.
In February last year, an assessment in the area by the World Food Programme revealed
that 15% of the children were suffering from acute malnutrition.
The reason we are here is because we believe that the health system needs a booster to be
able to respond to this emergency and MSF is able to provide that booster.
We are able to mobilise very quickly and be on the ground.
MSF works to save the lives of children under the age of five through a mobile therapeutic
feeding programme.
This is the best way to bring care as close as possible to young patients and to reach
a moving nomadic population.
MSF cannot prevent malnutrition, but we can assist in treating the most vulnerable people
in the population by providing them with two weekly rations of therapeutic food to bring
them back to health.
There are three main reasons why these mobile clinics are implemented.
Unlike the other part of Uganda, Karamodya relies only on one harvest per year.
And then they rely on timely rainfall to be able to plant.
This year, the rain was late and very little, meaning the planting was almost non-existing
in some of the areas.
The second situation that is different now is insecurity because there is a shift from
the traditional cattle breeding with traditional weapons to now firearms, which with limited
protection provided by authorities is creating an unprecedented insecurity situation.
And on top of that, you have the rising prices in the food commodities.
In April, the maize price went up about 60% and the beans also went up around 50% of the
prices.
So all those factors put together are the indication that the situation here is an emergency
and then need more attention and then probably the worst is to come.
Thank you.
