Every year, the ‘hunger gap’ and rainy season trigger a spike of malnutrition and malaria in Niger – particularly from July/August to October/November, in the southern part of the country.

Since the large food crisis of 2005, the prevention and treatment of childhood diseases has remarkably advanced: from ready-to-use therapeutic meals to more decentralised, comprehensive and patient-centred approaches both in existing medical structures and at the community level. Hundreds of thousands of children continue to be affected by this chronic emergency, though, and need timely, free-of-charge and quality healthcare especially during the seasonal peak.

In the region of Maradi, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supports the Ministry of Public Health in the District Hospital of Madarounfa, in the health centres of the same town and of Dan Issa (including a malaria unit), N’yelwa, Safo and Gabi, as well as through 34 community health workers.