Trending 
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has revealed that malaria is one of the leading illnesses affecting malnourished children in Nigeria.
Alibaba Nuraddeen, the acting Medical Team Leader with MSF in Katsina, disclosed this while speaking to journalists on World Malaria Day 2026, which was observed on Saturday.
Nuraddeen said the disease ranked among the top three diseases treated in the organisation’s Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centres (ITFCs) in 2025.
According to him, World Health Organisation (WHO) data shows that Nigeria accounts for 24.3 per cent of global malaria cases and 30.3 per cent of related deaths, contributing more than half of cases in West Africa.
Nigeria bears the highest global burden of malaria, accounting for over 24% of cases and 30% of deaths worldwide, with 97% of its population at risk.
The MSF official said centres, which catered to severely malnourished children, recorded about 26,000 paediatric admissions, many involving cases of co-infection. He added that malaria cases were recorded alongside acute watery diarrhoea and sepsis. He further explained that malaria and malnutrition are interconnected.
“Malaria and malnutrition are deeply interconnected. Malaria reduces appetite and food intake, while malnutrition weakens immunity, making children more susceptible to severe infection,” he said.
He warned that failure to properly diagnose malaria in malnourished children could prolong illness and delay recovery.
