UNICEF survey on malnourished Rohingya children underway

The UNICEF says they are working to get a clear understanding on the extent of acute malnutrition among Rohingya child refugees and a nutrition survey is underway which will give them this data in November, reports UNB.

"What we already know is that the combination of malnutrition, sanitary conditions, and disease in the refugee settlements, is potentially catastrophic for children," said UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado in Geneva on Friday.

During the recent mass influx, when thousands of Rohingyas were stuck at the border on October 16-18, it screened 340 children.

This was a rough and rapid exercise to identify children who needed immediate, life-saving treatment.

Of the 340 children screened at the border, 33 were found to be severely acutely malnourished (SAM).

Screening conducted on sick children who were brought to a Medecins Sans Frontieres clinic found 14 SAM cases among 103 children.

"This is an extremely small number of children, so these numbers are not representative. They do however tell us that some children are close to death by the time they make it across the border," said the spokesperson.

Among Rohingyas who have arrived in Bangladesh since August 25, UNICEF and partners had screened 59,604 children as of October 25, with 1,970 identified as SAM and 6,971 as moderately acutely malnourished.

These numbers roughly correspond to the pre-crisis malnutrition rates - which were already above the emergency threshold - 21.2 per cent global acute malnutrition and 3.6 per cent severe acute malnutrition, according to a survey conducted in May 2017 in makeshift settlements.