JUBA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN children's fund, UNICEF, said on Friday that at least 120,000 children under five years in South Sudan have been treated for severe malnutrition in the past six months and over 250,000 others are yet to be reached.
UNICEF South Sudan spokesperson, James Timothy Irwin, told Xinhua that low rates of exclusive breastfeeding and insecurity caused much of the malnutrition.
He said surveys in 2006 indicated that only 22 percent of mothers in South Sudan exclusively breastfeed their children.
"We have treated more than 120,000 children under five years old for severe malnutrition across South Sudan in the first six months of 2016. We have also revised our target for the number of children to be treated from 166,000 to more than 250, 000," Irwin said.
UNICEF said violence in the country has prevented aid agencies from delivering live-saving assistance to thousands of malnourished children.
Irwin said they are working with the South Sudan Ministry of Health and partners to create awareness about dangers of malnutrition and promoting breastfeeding among mothers.
"The on-going insecurity is making it much harder for agencies such as UNICEF to respond. The trucking in of urgent supplies, such as therapeutic food items, have been disrupted and we have had to charter two aircraft to bring in 150 tonnes on needed supplies," he said.
Rita Juan Demetry, Inspector of Nutrition at the Ministry of Health, said stress created by violence and hunger makes it difficult for breastfeeding mothers to care for their children, adding that collective efforts are being put in place to rescue those in dire situations.
"We are conducting counseling services to mothers and also have formed mothers support groups to advice breastfeeding mothers to raise healthy children. We really need to prevent malnutrition," he added.
The U.N relief chief, Stephen O'Brein, on Wednesday warned that humanitarian situation in South Sudan has deteriorated significantly after recent violence in Juba and other parts of the country, which left over 50,000 people displaced, 4.8 million severely food insecure, and a quarter of a million children malnourished.
