By Sunday Lawan , Lafia

Over 20 children suffering from acute malnutrition in Nasarawa state have been reported to have died due to none availability of food supplements in the various general hospitals across the state.

Findings by our reporter also revealed that children who were withdrawn from the Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital Lafia have died after taking the expired food supplements supplied by Nasarawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA.

The three dead children were confirmed in the hospital after taking the expired drugs, NPHCDA has been supplying expired food supplements for the severe acute malnourished children to the general Hospitals in the state.

In addition to the 3, seventeen children have been reported dead in Keffi and Akwanga general hospitals due to severe acute malnutrition and lack of food supplements to managed them since the ones supplied to them by NPHCDA are expired and cannot be administered on them.

Severe Acute Malnutrition, or severe wasting occurs when a child’s weight drops to such a low level they are at risk of dying, and the state health centers are supposed to deliver life saving care and treatment to such children under the age of five.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the rate of severe wasting in Nasarawa state is getting higher as the various general hospitals across the state have started rejecting malnourished children due to none availability of the RF 95 and RF100 food supplements as the agency keeps supplying expired ones to them.

Our correspondent who went round the general hospitals in Lafia , Akwanga and Keffi discovered that all the malnourished children were withdrawn and fresh cases rejected.

At the General Hospital Keffi , one of the officers who does not want her in print said “all children  diagnosed with severe wasting are supposed to be given due attention with treatment using the RF95 or RF100 food supplements and other  ready to use therepeutic food, but since we don’t have, we have started rejecting malnourished children in our facility.” She said

The  Chief Nutrition Officer of the NPHCDA Hajiya Halima Yusuf  said she supplied the RF95 and RF100 food supplements to all the general hospitals in the state since last year, adding that they did not use them till they got expired.

She said that at the movement, the agency has not bought new food supplements and UNICEF has also not supplied because the counterparts funds have not been paid.

Efforts to get comments from the Executive Chairman NPHDA in the state Dr Mohammed Addis proved abortive as he neither picked calls nor responded to text messages sent through his phone line on the matter.