Ouahigouya — A growing number of urban families in northwestern Burkina Faso refuse to hospitalize their children diagnosed as severely malnourished because they fear being stigmatized, according to hospital officials in a regional nutrition recovery centre.
Ouahigouya regional hospital takes on the most complicated cases of malnutrition from throughout the region. The director of its nutrition centre, Etienne Zida, told IRIN city children slip through the malnutrition diagnostic system.
"We will diagnose a child as severely malnourished in need of hospitalization. If that family is from here [Ouahigouya], we are likely not to see them again," said Zida. "Mostly from intellectual families, they feel shame and failure if their child is hospitalized because of malnutrition rather than malaria. So they simply do not do it."
The nutrition centre director said the impact of the stigma is likely masking what he sees as a growing problem of urban hunger. "Of the [urban] children we are able to treat for malnutrition, there are others we are not reaching."
Zida said cases of malnourished urban patients in the paediatric ward decreased after NGOs boosted nutrition services in the city about six years ago; the new services reduced the number of urban patients who sought care. But, even given the chilling effect of stigma, he said, during the first half of 2009 twice as many children from Ouahigouya city were in the nutrition recovery centre than from surrounding villages, 24 as compared to 11 rural children.
The director said the higher number of city children in the regional hospital's nutrition ward is due in part to villagers' increased ability to seek care for non-complicated malnutrition closer to their homes. But he said the imbalance is also due to growing malnutrition in cities.
Perception
The director of nutrition services at Burkina Faso's Health Ministry, Sylvestre Tapsoba, told IRIN malnutrition in cities has always existed and is not significantly changing. "There may be the perception it is getting worse because the health ministry has strengthened the treatment of malnutrition in rural areas, which has led to a reduction of rural referrals in regional health centres."
He said rural-to-urban migration plus the health and hygiene conditions of crowded urban life have long contributed to urban malnutrition. "Malnutrition in cities is not surprising nor is it a reversal of earlier trends."
The rate of global acute malnutrition - when under-five children do not meet international height or weight standards - in both urban and rural areas in Burkina Faso is 12 percent, according to the most recent government survey, which is still undergoing verification.
Slightly more urban families reported in the same survey eating only one meal per day - 7 percent versus 5.7 percent in rural areas.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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My son has gone to Ouagadougo to help with the hunger situation and to teach English and French. He just told me (Sept. 1,2009) that the city has had a massive flood and thousands are without food and shelter. Who can we look to for help?
thanks for the acceptance i will be glad if the world can do something on the famine in burkina especially in africa
These are the realities of Sub-Saharan regions, the populations need the life standards required to be able to face their nutrition issues. Malnutrition is caused by a poor diet and the children who need a certain diet (high in calcium, minerals, protein and fiber) really suffer the most out of the population so if the state wants to improve it, then they probably need to set some pro-active programs (ie. visiting homes to distribute vitamins, nutrients to folks) or other options much more invasive...because populations will have their stigma, and frankly these folks have a lot more problems than to recognize when their children are malnurished....malnutrition in Sub-Saharan nations is sort of the norm.
H. Beye PerformanceConsultantsIntl.com
Try little mini gardens and container gardens all over your nation - urban and rural both. Rainwater harvesting, too. Meaningful production can be done in very small spaces, and what you grow needs no transportation or storage.
You also have problems with Typha, and with Typha come Quelea and malaria. Typha removal will help you with your water supply, too. Typha is good feedstock for biofuels ranging from charcoal to ethanol.
Grow food everywhere. Teach micro gardening and container gardening in your schools.
Outright Nonsense!!! the country wasn't there for her people in day one. A rich country like Baukina Faso knows nothing but to take all her riches to the colonial master, France. Let the truth be the truth. If Baukina Faso was a dignifying country from day one, they would have being plaining what's best for the people and the rest of the country, instead, they wanted to stay in powers by rooting and stealing the least from their people to satisfy the greediest in the world. Africa, Africa, Africa, when will some of your children stop betraying the rest?? When????? A rich countinent, but the poorest in the world. It's not lack of proper management; it's lack of cooperations, love for ourselves, patriotism, good moral, and most of all, caring.........!!! WOW; Our fore fathers are crying deeply below of what we "Africans" are doing to each other. I wish one of them will someday rose up from the grave and said: My child, please stop doing this type of evil behaviours to your brothers and sisters - you all are Africans. Again, May God Bless Africa.