JUBA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- An international charity said on Monday that it has stepped up response to prevent malnutrition crisis particularly in three counties of South Sudan.
The charity, Care International, said its nutrition surveys conducted in Unity State show a worrying trend of malnutrition particularly in Mayom, Pariang and Rubkona counties as South Sudan continues to grapple with extremely high levels of food insecurity.
"Cases of children suffering from severe and moderate acute malnutrition in all three counties show an extreme increase compared to the same period last year," said Rosalind Crowther, CARE's Country Representative in South Sudan.
According to the findings, Mayom, Pariang and Rubkona counties registered remarkably high Global Acute Malnutrition rates of 18.3 percent, 19.6 percent and 17.8 percent respectively; exceeding by far the World Health Organization (WHO)'s 15 percent emergency threshold.
Crowther said the situation is particularly alarming also because of the new violence outbreak which prevents people from accessing food, warning that the worst of the food crisis is yet to come
"We anticipated an increase in malnutrition cases due to food insecurity but this has come too early as we have just entered the lean season," she said.
According to the UN, more than 6 million South Sudanese have been affected by the deteriorating food insecurity.
The food insecurity has mostly affected children with the United Nations estimating that 1.1 million children are at risk of malnutrition this year alone with up to 300,000 at high risk of death.
The charity said it has so far screened 125,000 children under five and 43,856 women for malnutrition and treated 43,467 children and 19,895 women for malnutrition and related diseases.
"CARE is working around the clock to ensure that no child dies from malnutrition. However, additional funding is required to enable us to reach more children in need of life-saving assistance," said Crowther.
In addition, CARE has mobilized 45 civil society organizations under the Scaling up Nutrition Movement to increase focus on nutrition sensitive interventions alongside treatment.
