Doctors in the besieged town of Madaya said that kwashiorkor cases among residents of the town have risen to over 2,000, including 600 children who are showing signs of severe malnutrition. Mohammed Darwish, a doctor operating in a field hospital in the town, said that they have no specific treatment for these cases.
Darwish warned that they have only two days’ supplies of F75 formula, which is a therapeutic milk product designed to treat severe malnutrition.
Kwashiorkor is a form of severe protein–energy malnutrition caused by insufficient protein consumption.
“Last week, we contacted the UN relief teams who promised they would introduce a convoy of medical supplies, but the convoy was delayed under the pretext of the security situation in the town,” Darwish added.
Darwish warned of an imminent catastrophe in the town due to the rapid rise in the number of seriously patient people, calling upon human rights and relief organizations to act urgently to avoid a further worsening of the crisis.
The Syrian Coalition earlier called upon the United Nations and the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to act urgently in order to save the lives of civilians trapped in the besieged areas across Syria, especially in the town of Madaya northwest of Damascus.
Member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee Riyad al-Hassan called on the UN relief teams to expeditiously deliver aid to the town of Madaya where civilians have been suffering from severe malnutrition as a result of the siege imposed by the Assad regime and the Hezbollah militias. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
